Stepping on Toes

Author: Hadiza Bala Usman

Top Idea: The authority to lead a public institution does not guarantee the freedom to reform it. Hadiza Bala Usman’s experience at the Nigerian Ports Authority illustrates how attempts to enforce regulations, review commercial agreements and improve administrative accountability can generate conflicts among public officials and private interests. Her account also raises a more demanding question about reform itself: whether the actions of a determined administrator create lasting institutional improvements that can survive changes in leadership and withstand independent scrutiny.

The Big Idea

Public institutions operate within legal frameworks that define their responsibilities, powers and relationships with other organisations. In practice, however, their decisions are also influenced by political authority, commercial interests, administrative traditions and the individuals occupying positions of power.

In Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman examines these relationships through her experience as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority between July 2016 and May 2021.

Her appointment made her the first woman to lead the Authority, placing her at the head of an institution responsible for important aspects of Nigeria’s maritime infrastructure and commercial operations.

Usman entered the position after serving as Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kaduna State and participating in political and civic activities that had brought her into contact with influential public officials.

She describes arriving at the NPA determined to introduce greater professionalism, financial transparency, administrative discipline and compliance with the laws governing port operations.

Her account begins with internal reforms intended to improve personnel administration, organisational efficiency and financial disclosure.

It subsequently moves into more contentious areas of maritime governance, including the congestion affecting access to Lagos ports, channel management agreements, relationships with terminal operators and the collection of revenues owed to government.

Particular attention is devoted to disputes involving Integrated Logistics Services, commonly known as Intels, the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base, Samsung, Ocean Marine Solutions Limited and BUA Ports and Terminals.

In each case, Usman presents the central issue as the responsibility of a public institution to enforce contractual obligations, protect government revenue or exercise powers assigned to it by law.

These interventions brought the Authority into disagreements with influential commercial interests and, eventually, with the political leadership responsible for supervising the maritime sector.

The final part of the memoir examines the circumstances surrounding her suspension in May 2021.

The immediate justification involved allegations that the NPA had failed to remit approximately ₦165 billion in operating surpluses to the Federal Government.

Usman disputes those allegations and presents the subsequent administrative inquiry as evidence that the central financial accusation was not substantiated.

She also argues that disagreements over the renewal and management of valuable maritime contracts contributed to the deterioration of her relationship with the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

These explanations are central to her account, although the motives she attributes to other officials remain disputed.

The book was written partly to defend her professional reputation and provide the public with her account of the events that ended her leadership of the Authority.

Nevertheless, it also provides a substantial narrative of maritime administration and the difficulties associated with managing a public commercial institution.

Its importance lies in the questions generated by these experiences.

How should government balance commercial contracts with public responsibilities? What distinguishes legitimate ministerial supervision from inappropriate interference? How can public institutions exercise regulatory authority without concentrating excessive discretion in their leadership? And how should administrative reform be evaluated when its proponents and opponents present conflicting accounts?

Usman’s memoir provides one participant’s detailed perspective on these questions.

The challenge for the reader is to distinguish the reforms she describes, the results that can be independently established and the interpretations through which she explains the conflicts surrounding her tenure.

Top Lessons

1. Institutional reform begins with administrative systems, not public declarations.

One of the book’s important contributions is its attention to the internal organisation of the NPA.

Usman describes efforts to improve punctuality, administrative responsiveness, staff remuneration, personnel management and the disclosure of financial information.

She recounts a November 2016 agreement with BudgIT intended to make the Authority’s budget more accessible to the public.

Her administration also introduced measures concerning tariff disclosure, billing systems and revenue administration.

These are important because administrative weaknesses are often embedded in everyday procedures rather than expressed through formal policy statements.

However, introducing a new procedure is not sufficient evidence that an institution has become more effective.

The appropriate questions concern whether the procedure was implemented consistently, whether it improved performance and whether it continued to function after the officials responsible for introducing it left office.

The lesson is that administrative reform should be evaluated through the changes it produces in institutional behaviour.

2. Public commercial agreements create obligations for government and private operators.

The memoir provides several examples of disputes concerning concession agreements and other contractual arrangements.

Usman argues that private operators benefiting from access to public maritime infrastructure should comply with the conditions attached to their agreements.

She also acknowledges that government institutions possess contractual obligations of their own.

This distinction is fundamental.

The public ownership of infrastructure does not eliminate the contractual rights of private operators.

Similarly, a private company’s investment in public infrastructure does not exempt it from lawful regulatory oversight.

Effective commercial governance requires both parties to fulfil their obligations.

Disputes should consequently be assessed through the relevant contractual provisions, governing laws, administrative procedures and judicial decisions.

The legitimacy of a public official’s position cannot be established solely by an appeal to national interest.

It must be demonstrated through the authority and obligations governing the particular decision.

3. Administrative reform can redistribute valuable economic opportunities.

The disputes involving Intels illustrate how regulatory decisions can affect established commercial arrangements.

Usman examines restrictions that directed particular categories of oil and gas cargo towards designated terminals, as well as the contractual arrangements governing service boat operations.

She questions the justification for restrictions that limited commercial choice and the continuation of agreements that, in her assessment, no longer served the public interest.

These issues demonstrate that economic regulation can influence which companies receive business, which firms are permitted to compete and how revenues are distributed.

Reforming such arrangements can therefore affect significant private interests.

However, the existence of commercial opposition does not independently establish that a reform is economically justified.

The relevant assessment should examine competition, contractual rights, public revenue, operational efficiency and the consequences for service users.

A reform may challenge an established advantage while still requiring careful evaluation of its own costs and benefits.

4. Technology can reduce administrative discretion without eliminating institutional weaknesses.

The introduction of the Eto electronic truck call up system is among the book’s most concrete operational reforms.

The initiative sought to improve the scheduling and movement of trucks accessing the Lagos Ports Complex and Tin Can Island Port.

Usman explains that congestion resulted from several interacting problems, including inadequate road infrastructure, inefficient cargo evacuation, limited truck parking facilities and administrative arrangements that permitted disorderly access.

Eto was intended to improve the management of truck movements through an electronic scheduling system.

The reform illustrates how technology can reduce dependence on informal procedures and create more predictable arrangements for service users.

However, software cannot independently resolve inadequate infrastructure, insufficient holding facilities or weak enforcement.

The lesson is that technological reform must be integrated into the wider system it is expected to improve.

Its effectiveness should be measured through reliable evidence of reduced delays, improved cargo movement and lower operational costs.

5. Maritime efficiency depends on institutions beyond the Ports Authority.

The discussion of Apapa’s congestion demonstrates the interdependence of port operations and wider transport infrastructure.

Usman explains that the movement of goods was affected by access roads, trucking arrangements, railway infrastructure, inland waterways and the operational decisions of terminal operators.

These responsibilities were distributed across several public and private organisations.

The NPA could influence some aspects of the problem without possessing direct control over all of them.

This creates a broader lesson about public administration.

A government institution may be held responsible for an outcome that depends partly on decisions made elsewhere.

Effective reform consequently requires clearly assigned responsibilities, coordination among relevant institutions and evidence that distinguishes individual contributions from wider outcomes.

6. Financial accountability requires accurate reconciliation and transparent procedures.

The allegations concerning the NPA’s operating surplus are central to Usman’s explanation of her departure.

The initial allegation concerned approximately ₦165 billion said to have remained unremitted to government.

Contemporary reporting of the subsequent administrative inquiry indicated that the panel did not establish the alleged missing remittances.

However, other administrative concerns were reportedly raised during the inquiry.

These findings must be distinguished.

The failure to substantiate a particular financial allegation does not automatically resolve every question about an institution’s administration.

Equally, the existence of other administrative concerns does not establish the original allegation.

The lesson is that financial accountability requires precise definitions, reliable records and transparent reconciliation.

Public accusations should identify the legal obligation involved, the relevant accounting period, the amount due and the evidence establishing any shortfall.

7. Public service requires both professional conviction and institutional restraint.

Usman repeatedly describes the importance of maintaining professional principles despite pressure from influential individuals.

Her final chapter reflects on reputation, personal relationships and the risks associated with occupying public office.

These are important aspects of public service.

However, personal conviction should not become a substitute for institutional scrutiny.

A public official may sincerely believe that a decision is appropriate while remaining mistaken about its legality, consequences or effectiveness.

The stronger standard is therefore not whether an administrator demonstrates determination.

It is whether the exercise of authority can be justified through applicable rules, credible evidence and appropriate procedures.

Professional independence and institutional accountability should reinforce one another.

My Notes

The book is both an administrative account and a defence of professional reputation.

The first distinction I would make concerns the purpose of the memoir.

Usman states in the introduction that she felt obliged to explain the controversies surrounding her tenure.

She connects this responsibility with lessons from her father, the historian Yusuf Bala Usman, concerning personal reputation and accountability.

The decision to write the book followed her suspension and the allegations concerning the Authority’s finances.

This context matters because the memoir performs two functions.

It documents administrative decisions and commercial disputes that occurred during her leadership.

It also presents the author’s explanation of why those decisions were appropriate and why her departure from office was unjustified.

These purposes are compatible, but they are not identical.

A memoir written partly to defend professional reputation naturally gives particular attention to decisions the author believes were misunderstood or misrepresented.

The reader should therefore distinguish the evidence presented from the conclusions the author draws.

I find the book useful precisely because it provides a detailed account from someone directly involved in the events.

However, that access does not remove the need to examine competing evidence.

Internal reform is the strongest foundation for assessing institutional leadership.

Before the major commercial disputes occupy the narrative, Usman describes changes within the NPA.

These chapters deserve more attention than a reading concerned exclusively with political confrontation might provide.

She discusses the restructuring of internal divisions, changes to personnel administration, revised conditions of service and efforts to improve financial disclosure.

The partnership with BudgIT and the publication of tariff information are particularly relevant to public accountability.

These measures can be examined through administrative records and the systems established during the period.

They offer a more concrete basis for evaluating institutional reform than general claims about personal determination.

Nevertheless, I would distinguish the introduction of reforms from their measurable effects.

The existence of a revised salary structure does not establish that personnel performance improved.

The introduction of a billing platform does not establish that revenue collection became more efficient.

The publication of financial information does not automatically demonstrate that the information was sufficiently complete or accessible to permit independent scrutiny.

These are propositions requiring evidence.

A more complete assessment would examine whether the reforms improved organisational performance, reduced delays, strengthened internal controls or created capabilities that survived subsequent changes in management.

What I take from these chapters is the importance of identifying institutional changes that can be observed and evaluated independently of the reputation of the person who introduced them.

The Intels disputes reveal the relationship between contracts and public authority.

The discussions of Intels are among the most substantial parts of the memoir.

Usman distinguishes between the company’s terminal concession arrangements and its separate responsibilities concerning the management of service boat operations.

This distinction is important because different contractual relationships create different obligations.

A company may possess legitimate rights under one agreement while facing disputes concerning another.

Usman questions the historical growth of the commission payable under the service boat management arrangement.

She also describes disagreements concerning the collection of government revenues and compliance with the Treasury Single Account policy.

In her account, the NPA sought to ensure that revenues collected on behalf of government were remitted through the appropriate public accounts.

The dispute subsequently involved legal advice, correspondence with government institutions and questions concerning the expiration of contractual obligations.

I find the attention to contractual distinctions particularly valuable.

A contract that has expired is not necessarily equivalent to a contract terminated before its expiry.

Similarly, the continuation of a commercial relationship does not automatically justify renewing it without competition.

Nevertheless, the existence of a contractual dispute does not establish that one party acted improperly in every respect.

The appropriate assessment requires the original agreement, any amendments, the governing legal framework and relevant administrative or judicial determinations.

The memoir provides useful documentary material and explanations of the NPA’s position.

It does not eliminate the need to examine the commercial and legal arguments advanced by the other parties.

Public procurement is an institutional safeguard, not merely a procedural obstacle.

Usman’s account of channel management contracts raises an especially important question about the relationship between ministerial direction and procurement rules.

She describes disagreements concerning whether existing arrangements should be extended or subjected to a competitive procurement process.

According to her account, the Bureau of Public Procurement supported competitive tendering rather than the proposed extension of existing contracts.

This episode demonstrates why the division of responsibilities within government matters.

A minister may possess legitimate authority to establish policy priorities and supervise an agency.

However, that authority operates within laws and procedures governing the commitment of public resources.

Procurement requirements are intended partly to ensure competition, transparency and appropriate value for public expenditure.

They should not be treated simply as administrative formalities.

At the same time, compliance with procurement procedures does not independently establish that a particular transaction provides good value.

Competitive tendering must be supported by appropriate specifications, credible evaluations, contract management and performance monitoring.

The broader lesson is that public accountability depends on institutions whose authority is sufficiently defined to prevent the preferences of individual officeholders from determining commercial outcomes without appropriate scrutiny.

BUA demonstrates why contractual disputes require competing evidence.

The chapter concerning BUA Ports and Terminals examines disagreements about the condition of infrastructure and obligations under the company’s concession at Rivers Port.

Usman presents the NPA’s intervention as a response to concerns about the safety of the terminal and compliance with reconstruction responsibilities.

She cites correspondence and administrative actions undertaken before and during her tenure.

The company’s position, however, has also been contested publicly.

In a statement issued in May 2025, BUA disputed Usman’s interpretation of the contractual relationship and challenged the legal basis of the Authority’s actions.

The company alleged that the decommissioning of Terminal B was inconsistent with contractual procedures and an existing court injunction.

These are competing claims concerning a specific commercial relationship.

I would not regard the existence of the dispute as sufficient evidence to establish either party’s full position.

Its resolution depends on the applicable contractual provisions, the allocation of infrastructure responsibilities, engineering assessments, judicial orders and the chronology of official decisions.

This is an important qualification to the memoir’s narrative.

A public institution may have legitimate safety concerns while still being required to exercise its powers through appropriate contractual and legal procedures.

Similarly, a private operator may possess contractual rights without being exempt from obligations concerning safety and infrastructure.

The public interest requires both considerations to be examined.

The proposed closure of the secure anchorage area raises questions about institutional jurisdiction.

Usman’s account of Ocean Marine Solutions Limited concerns the operation of a secure anchorage arrangement within the Lagos maritime environment.

She argues that the company’s activities raised questions about the legal authority under which it operated and the collection of charges from vessels.

The dispute involved the relationship between the NPA, the Nigerian Navy and other maritime institutions.

This is significant because security and port administration are not identical responsibilities.

An arrangement developed to address maritime security concerns may create commercial charges or administrative practices requiring separate legal justification.

However, discontinuing an arrangement also requires consideration of the security responsibilities that the arrangement was intended to address.

The relevant questions are therefore broader than whether a private operator earned revenue.

Which institution possessed authority over the anchorage?

What services were provided?

Were the charges legally authorised?

What responsibilities did the relevant government agencies possess?

What arrangements were required to preserve maritime security after the change?

These questions illustrate the need to distinguish jurisdiction, revenue collection and service delivery.

They also demonstrate why public institutions should not exercise authority beyond their lawful responsibilities merely because they identify a legitimate policy concern.

Apapa provides a more useful test of performance than the visibility of individual reforms.

The discussion of Apapa’s traffic congestion offers a clear opportunity to distinguish reform activity from reform outcomes.

Usman recognises several contributing factors, including road conditions, cargo handling arrangements, truck movements and the concentration of commercial activity around the Lagos ports.

Her account also recognises that the problem extended beyond the responsibilities of the NPA.

The introduction of Eto was intended to address one part of that wider system.

The initiative is important because it attempted to replace disorderly truck movements with scheduled access to port facilities.

However, the existence of the application does not establish how much congestion it reduced or whether its benefits were sustained.

An appropriate assessment would examine truck waiting times, turnaround periods, road congestion, operational costs and the experiences of transporters before and after implementation.

It would also investigate the effects of other developments occurring during the same period.

Changes in road infrastructure, terminal operations, cargo volumes and enforcement practices could influence the same outcomes.

I would therefore resist attributing every subsequent improvement or difficulty to Eto alone.

The more useful lesson is that technological interventions should be evaluated within the wider systems they seek to change.

The suspension controversy requires a distinction between allegations, findings and motives.

The circumstances surrounding Usman’s departure from the NPA form the emotional and political centre of the memoir.

Her suspension in May 2021 followed allegations concerning the remittance of operating surpluses.

She argues that the allegations were not substantiated during the administrative inquiry.

Contemporary reporting in February 2022 supports the narrower conclusion that the panel did not establish the alleged missing remittances.

However, the broader administrative dispute did not end there.

Other allegations concerning administrative conduct were subsequently raised.

Rotimi Amaechi publicly challenged aspects of Usman’s memoir in October 2023 and alleged that the inquiry had identified misconduct.

Usman rejected his account, including an allegation concerning approval of a contract valued at ₦2.8 billion.

These competing statements should not be combined into a single established conclusion.

The reported failure to substantiate the original remittance allegation is an important finding.

It does not independently determine the merit of every subsequent administrative allegation.

Similarly, the existence of subsequent allegations does not establish that the original financial accusation was valid.

I would be particularly cautious about claims concerning why the Minister sought her suspension.

Usman attributes the deterioration of their relationship partly to disputes over valuable contracts.

Her account provides a basis for examining that possibility.

However, establishing motive requires evidence beyond the fact that disagreements preceded an administrative decision.

The sequence of events may be consistent with her interpretation without conclusively proving it.

The responsible approach is to preserve these distinctions.

A political memoir should be evaluated through the evidence it provides, not through the assumption that the author or her critics must be correct in every respect.

The documentary appendices improve the book, but they do not settle every dispute.

An important feature of Stepping on Toes is its inclusion of documentary material.

Usman reproduces or discusses official correspondence, administrative memoranda and other records connected with the controversies she describes.

This improves the usefulness of the memoir.

Readers can examine the kinds of documents through which government decisions were communicated and disputes developed.

However, the inclusion of official documents does not make the collection complete.

The author determines which materials are reproduced and how they are presented.

A document may accurately establish that a particular official communicated a position without establishing that the position was legally or factually correct.

Similarly, an administrative letter may represent one stage of a dispute rather than its final resolution.

The stronger evidentiary approach would involve examining the full correspondence, contractual records, judicial decisions and independently verified outcomes.

I therefore regard the appendices as an important contribution to transparency while recognising that they remain part of a selected personal account.

They provide material for further investigation rather than removing the need for it.

Professional independence must operate within institutional accountability.

One of the strongest themes in the book is Usman’s determination not to allow powerful individuals to dictate administrative decisions outside established rules.

This is an important principle of public administration.

Career officials and appointed executives should exercise their responsibilities according to law, not simply according to personal relationships.

However, the independence of a public institution cannot be unlimited.

Government agencies operate within statutory arrangements that establish ministerial responsibilities, governing boards, financial controls and other mechanisms of oversight.

The relevant challenge is to distinguish lawful supervision from improper interference.

Not every disagreement between a minister and an agency head constitutes political persecution.

Equally, ministerial authority does not justify circumventing applicable procurement procedures or requiring an agency to act outside its legal powers.

These distinctions must be established through institutional responsibilities and specific decisions.

The stronger argument emerging from Usman’s experience is therefore not that reformers should be free from political supervision.

It is that public institutions require clear legal boundaries within which political oversight and professional administration can function without undermining one another.

What the book added to my understanding

The most important contribution I take from Stepping on Toes is a more concrete understanding of the relationship between commercial interests and administrative authority.

Public institutions responsible for economically valuable infrastructure do not merely implement technical policies.

Their decisions can influence market access, contractual revenues, investment opportunities and the distribution of commercial advantage.

Consequently, disputes over regulatory decisions may involve substantial economic interests.

The book also clarifies the importance of separating public contracts from personal relationships.

A company’s commercial importance or access to influential individuals should not independently determine the treatment it receives from a public institution.

However, regulatory action must itself remain subject to law and scrutiny.

A third lesson concerns the limits of individual administrative determination.

A leader may initiate reforms, strengthen procedures and challenge established arrangements without possessing complete control over the political and institutional environment.

This makes the durability of reform particularly important.

The more consequential achievement is not simply the ability to prevail in a particular dispute.

It is the establishment of systems through which similar disputes can be managed lawfully and consistently in the future.

A fourth lesson concerns evidence.

Personal testimony can reveal important aspects of public administration, but it should not be treated as a substitute for documentary verification or independent assessment.

This applies to allegations against public officials as much as it applies to the claims through which those officials defend themselves.

Finally, the book strengthens my understanding of public accountability as a responsibility that operates in several directions.

Public officials must account for their decisions.

Private operators benefiting from public contracts must fulfil their obligations.

Supervising authorities must exercise their powers lawfully.

And institutions investigating alleged misconduct must follow credible procedures.

These responsibilities cannot be reduced to the personal integrity or determination of one officeholder.

That is the central intellectual contribution I take from Usman’s account.

Key Takeaways for the Nigerian Condition

1. Public commercial institutions require clearly defined authority.

Agencies managing valuable public assets should possess legal mandates that distinguish operational management, commercial regulation, financial oversight and ministerial supervision.

These responsibilities should be sufficiently clear to reduce conflicts arising from competing interpretations of authority.

Where disputes occur, established procedures should determine how they are resolved.

2. Government contracts should be disclosed and evaluated appropriately.

Commercial agreements involving public infrastructure should be supported by transparent procurement arrangements, credible contract management and appropriate disclosure.

The rights and obligations of government and private operators should be clearly established.

Compliance should be examined through documentary evidence, independent assessments and lawful dispute resolution procedures.

3. Public sector reform should reduce dependence on individual discretion.

An institution should not require an unusually determined leader to enforce its ordinary rules.

Appropriate controls should be embedded in administrative procedures, information systems, personnel responsibilities and accountability arrangements.

The effectiveness of reform should be demonstrated through institutional practices that continue after changes in leadership.

4. Maritime logistics should be evaluated as part of Nigeria’s wider economic system.

The performance of Nigerian ports affects the movement of imports, exports, industrial inputs and essential commodities.

Port delays, unreliable transport arrangements and administrative costs can influence the wider cost of commerce.

However, their effects must be measured rather than assumed.

A credible assessment should distinguish port operations from the effects of road infrastructure, customs administration, transport markets and other economic conditions.

5. Food security requires attention to the movement of goods as well as production.

Nigeria’s food systems depend on the movement of agricultural inputs, machinery, processed products and traded commodities.

Maritime logistics can influence the costs and reliability of these movements.

The relevant policy question is how particular bottlenecks affect delivered prices, availability and commercial decisions.

Usman’s account provides institutional examples of the difficulties involved in coordinating infrastructure and logistics.

It does not independently establish the magnitude of their effects on food prices or household welfare.

Those consequences require empirical investigation.

6. Financial allegations should be handled through credible institutional procedures.

Claims concerning the mismanagement or nonremittance of public funds should identify the applicable financial rules, accounting obligations and supporting records.

Investigations should distinguish suspected irregularities from established findings.

Relevant conclusions should be communicated through appropriate official procedures.

Public accountability is weakened when allegations and administrative findings cannot be clearly distinguished.

7. Ministerial oversight and agency independence should reinforce each other.

Political supervision is a legitimate component of public administration.

However, public agencies should not be required to disregard applicable laws or procedures simply because a supervising official prefers a particular commercial decision.

Similarly, agency executives remain accountable for exercising their authority within the boundaries established by law.

The objective should be institutional arrangements that combine effective supervision with professional integrity.

8. Technology should be assessed through the operational problems it solves.

Digital systems can improve scheduling, information management and administrative transparency.

However, their effectiveness depends on the quality of the wider operational environment.

Government should therefore evaluate technological interventions through changes in service reliability, processing times, costs and accessibility.

The launch of an application or platform is an administrative output, not sufficient evidence of a successful reform.

9. Institutional performance should be separated from the reputation of public officials.

A public official may be widely praised or criticised without sufficient evidence concerning the performance of the institution under their leadership.

The appropriate assessment should examine statutory responsibilities, documented decisions, the quality of implementation and measurable outcomes.

Personal reputation may be relevant to the historical interpretation of a memoir.

It should not substitute for institutional evaluation.

My Final Assessment

Hadiza Bala Usman’s Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority provides a detailed personal account of the administrative, commercial and political relationships that shaped her leadership of the Nigerian Ports Authority between 2016 and 2021.

Its principal contribution lies in documenting the kinds of decisions and disputes that arise when a public institution exercises authority over economically valuable infrastructure and commercial arrangements.

The memoir is especially informative in its treatment of internal administrative reforms, the management of port access, the enforcement of concession obligations, the collection of government revenue and the relationship between ministerial supervision and agency authority.

Its documentary appendices also provide useful material for examining some of the administrative exchanges that occurred during the period.

However, the book must be read with an appreciation of its purpose and limitations.

Usman wrote partly to defend her professional reputation and explain the circumstances surrounding her suspension.

Her testimony is therefore valuable as the account of a direct participant, but it does not independently establish the motives of every other official or the complete legal position in every commercial dispute.

The competing responses from individuals and companies mentioned in the book reinforce the need for independent verification.

I also find that the evidence of reform activity should be distinguished more carefully from evidence of lasting institutional improvement.

The introduction of new procedures, publication of financial information and enforcement of commercial agreements are important administrative actions.

Their developmental significance depends on whether they produced measurable improvements in organisational capability, service delivery, competition and public accountability.

The memoir provides substantial material for asking these questions, even where it does not answer all of them conclusively.

For students of public administration, researchers, maritime professionals and readers interested in the practical workings of Nigerian government, the book offers a useful perspective on the tensions between political authority, commercial interests and institutional reform.

It also demonstrates the importance of preserving documentary accounts of public decisions while subjecting those accounts to appropriate scrutiny.

The most important lesson I take from Stepping on Toes is that reform cannot be judged solely by the determination of the person leading it or by the opposition encountered along the way. Its lasting value depends on whether public institutions become more capable of exercising their responsibilities lawfully, consistently and accountably.

Professional courage matters, but it must be accompanied by legal authority, reliable evidence and institutional safeguards.

Commercial interests deserve legitimate protection, but they must also be subject to contractual obligations and public regulation.

Political oversight remains necessary, but it must operate within the limits of lawful authority.

These considerations form the central institutional questions arising from Usman’s experience.

The value of the memoir is that it makes those questions tangible through the experiences of an official who occupied an influential position within Nigeria’s maritime administration.

Its enduring contribution lies in the opportunity it provides to examine not only the difficulties of challenging established arrangements, but also the more demanding task of building institutions that can function effectively beyond the individuals who lead them.