By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) is created primarily to manage the prices of commodities as a means of helping farmers cope with the vagaries of prices. It was therefore a shocker that its managing director, Zaheera Baba-Ari, appeared before a senate committee and said she was not aware of the prices of commodities – the core business of the exchange.
The senate committee chair persistently asked her that she ought to have an idea of the going prices of the commodities. But she was all blanked during the questioning.
Her questioner still in shock, said her lack of knowledge of the prices of the commodities traded on the platform of the organisation which she is its MD, showed little interest for the job. She simply looked away.
In terms of having the needed experience and qualification for the job, Zaheera Baba-Ari looks eminently qualified.
On the website of the Nigeria Commodity Exchange, Baba-Ari’s profile showed that she joined the Exchange in 1999 as the Exchange’s pioneer Manager and Head of HRM and Corporate Services department from EkoCorp Plc where she was head of Corporate Affairs.
Her official bio on the organisation website says that she holds a Masters Degree in Language Arts and Communication from University of Ibadan (1983) and B. A. English (1981) from the University of Maiduguri. She is a member Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ACMR) 2006 and became a Certified Procurement Officer (CPO) in Procurement Skills and Techniques 2009. She is a member of the Procurement Professionals Association of Nigeria (MPPA).
The profile also revealed that in 2002 – 2003, she was the secretary of the Inter Ministerial Technical Committee (ITC) on the conversion of Abuja Stock Exchange (ASE) to Abuja Securities & Commodities Exchange (ASCE), while in 2004, she became the Secretary of the Implementation Steering Committee (ISC) that saw to the actualization of the ASCE project which culminated in 2007 with the signing of an MOU with the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange in China.
The official bio says she has had extensive training and firsthand experience on the operations of a Commodity Exchange in Asia, the far East, South America, North America and Europe.
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