By Olukayode Idowu
Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has appointed Hajia Mariam Yaro as the new Executive Secretary of the Zamfara State Investment Promotion Agency (ZIPA).
Hajia Yaro, who hails from Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, was until her appointment as ZIPA Executive Secretary, the Head, Minimum Pension Guarantee Unit at the National Pension Commission, Abuja. Hajia Yaro also headed the SERVICOM Unit of the Corporate Responsibility & SERVICOM Department and subsequently served on the Commission’s Ministerial SERVICOM Unit (MSU), which ensures outstanding service delivery within the commission. She and her team won the 2018 Best Team A award. She also later headed the Commission’s Deceased Benefit Unit.
She began her working career in the Administration Department of Chevron Nigeria Limited in the mid-90s. Between February 1997 and August 2001, she held the post of Public Relations Officer at the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board. She later joined the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), where she worked till April 2007 as a pioneer member of the Power Sector Reform Team (PSRT). Hajia Yaro also subsequently worked with consultants in Phase 1 – set up of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Hajia Yaro attended the London School of Business and Management in the United Kingdom for her Executive MBA and the International Institute of Journalism for a Post-Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Public Relations and Advertising. Earlier, Hajia Yaro obtained her first degree in Biological Science. For her secondary education, she was at Sacred Heart Science School in Tunbridge Wells, England for her ‘A’ Level while in 1988, she attended Hunmanby Hall School, N.Yorkshire, England, where she did her GCSE. She has also attended many Management courses, both in Nigeria and overseas.
This resourceful Management and Public Relations expert says she invests her personality and expertise in strategic management in all she does with a view to realising the common goal, interest and advancement of any organisation she heads.
Hajia Yaro also described herself as “committed to human, personal development and national service. Talented administrator, energetic self-starter with excellent analytical, organisational and creative skills.”