Zannah Bukar Mustapha (born 1959 ) is a Nigerian educator and lawyer. He quit the legal profession in 2007 to open a school for orphaned children, opening a second school in 2016. Mustapha has twice negotiated the release of girls and women abducted in north Nigeria. He is the 2017 winner of the

Nansen Refugee Award The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, Internally displaced person, displac ...

Education

Mustapha holds bachelor's degree in law from 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 b ...

Career

After graduation, Mustapha worked as a Sharia court lawyer, resigning in 2007 after 20 years to become an educator. In the midst of the

Boko Haram insurgency The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing iss ...

in 2007, Mustapha opened the Future Prowess Academy and Islamic Foundation School in

Maiduguri Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border form ...

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

. The school has no fees and also provides healthcare, food, and school uniforms to orphaned children. Originally the school taught 36 students, growing to 540 in 2017. Classes include Arabic, French, English, mathematics, cookery, and textile work. In 2016, Mustapha opened a second school, a few kilometres from the first, that supports the education of 88 students. Mustapha helped negotiate the release of 21 young women abducted in north Nigeria and the release of 82 Chibok schoolgirls in May 2017.

Awards

In 2017, Mustapha was awarded the

. In 2021, Mustapha was identified as a CNN Hero at the 15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute.

Personal life

Mustapha was 63 years old in 2022.

References

External links

Future Prowess Future School official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustapha, Zannah 1950s births 20th-century Nigerian lawyers 21st-century Nigerian lawyers 21st-century Nigerian educators Organization founders People from Borno State Living people Nansen Refugee Award laureates