Babagana Umara Zulum (born 25 August 1969) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

professor and politician. He has served as Governor of Borno State since 2019 under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Early life

Babagana was born on August 25, 1969, in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Education

After elementary schooling in Mafa Primary School from 1975 to 1980 and secondary education in Government Secondary School, Monguno from 1980 to 1985, Zulum studied at the

University of Maiduguri The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) is a Federal higher institution located in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State in northeast Nigeria. The university was created by the federal government of Nigeria in 1975, with the intention of its ...

, where he obtained a degree in Agriculture Engineering after which he served as a youth corps member with Katsina State Polytechnic. He proceeded to the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

from 1997 to 1998, where he obtained a master's degree in Agriculture Engineering. In 2005, he enrolled for a PhD in Soil and Water Engineering with the

which he completed in 2009.

Career

Babagana's first appointment was in 1989 with Borno State Civil Service as an Assistant Technical Officer in the State's Ministry of Agriculture. In 1990, Babagana moved into Borno State Unified Local Government Service as Senior Field Overseer and later Principal Water Engineer. In 2000, he took up an appointment with the

as an assistant Lecturer where he rose to the rank of Professor. Babagana was Deputy Dean and Acting Dean, Faculty of Engineering in 2010 and 2011 respectively. In 2011, Babagana Umara was appointed the Rector of Polytechnic. Meanwhile, he retained his teaching position in the University of Maiduguri. In 2015, he was made Commissioner of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement by Governor Kashim Shetima of Borno State, a position he held till 2018.

Politics

On October 1, 2018, he won the gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressive Congress for Borno State. Professor Babagana was elected to the Office of the Governor of Borno State at the 2019 Borno gubernatorial election held on March 9, 2019, with 1175440 votes.

Assassination attempts

Zulum has been the target of several failed assassination attempts by the group Boko Haram. His convoy was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents on July 29, 2020, on Maiduguri-Damaturu highway. Five people were killed including three policemen. On 26 September 2020, Zulum and his convoy were again attacked by Boko Haram near Lake Chad. At least 18 people were reportedly killed, including 14 police officers and soldiers and 4 civilians.Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis: 'Bomb on donkey' used to ambush Borno governor
''BBC'' The death toll was later updated to 30 as more bodies were found. Three days later, on the 29th, Zulum's convoy noticed a donkey on the road and shot at it. After the donkey exploded, insurgents came out of hiding and fired at them. A number of insurgents were killed, whereas no one in the convoy was injured. On 22 November 2020, Convoy belonging to Zulum was attacked while he was traveling to meet with government officials in Baga. Seven soldiers and two civilians were killed in this ambush, but the governor was unhurt. His appointment was cancelled.

Award

In October 2022, a Nigerian national honour of

Commander Of The Order Of The Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honour ...

(CON) was conferred on him by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulum, Babagana Umara 1969 births University of Maiduguri faculty Living people Nigerian Muslims University of Maiduguri alumni All Progressives Congress politicians Nigerian agriculturalists University of Ibadan alumni Governors of Borno State