Rakiya Dhikru-Yagboyaju (Zubairu) is Head of Public Relations at Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the nation’s Port Economic Regulator, a position she has occupied since December 2019 having been head-hunted for it.

Prior to this, she was at the Bank Of Industry (BOI), serving in various positions from 2007 to 2019. She started out as Head of Corporate Communications, before taking a two year leave of absence to serve as Special Assistant on Communications in 2010 to the then Minister Of Health, Professor Chukwu, where she highlighted the plight of children working in the gold mines in Zamfara State as well as publicity on polio, which helped Nigeria reach within an inch of totally eliminating polio in the country; a campaign that was highlighted by the Minister at WHO in Geneva and the UN General Assembly in New York. During this period, she also served on President Goodluck Jonathan’s inauguration committee.

In 2012, Rakiya returned to BOI to work in operations in the Large Enterprises Division’s Agro-processing and Solid Minerals sectors, managing portfolios of N500m and above, where her achievements led to her elevation to Group Head (Gender Business), creating the N1b Fashion Fund, the first of its kind in the banking sector which surpassed its one-year target within nine months of operation.

Rakiya worked at the Network News department of the Nigerian Television Authority from January 1987 to December 2007, during which time, she was a reporter on the Political and Business Desks, presenting the business segment of the Network News for many years. She was also briefly attached to the late First Lady Maryam Babangida covering her activities during that period. Rakiya is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and was the NTA Victoria Island Chapter Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists. She is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and is actively involved in ‘PROJECT NO EXCUSES’ Oversight Committee of the Ovie Brume Foundation. She is also very active in the Old Students Association of her secondary school, Federal Government College, Sokoto and primary school Kaduna Capital School. She is also a member of Ikoyi Club, serving on several committees.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Government & Politics from the University of Maryland in the USA and a Master of Science Degree in Political Science from the University of Lagos. Rakiya is married to Dhikru Adewale Yagboyaju, a professor of Political Science at the University of Ibadan and they have four adult children.