From the classroom to the government, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum is one of the Nigerian governors who partially left the lecture room to join active politics.
Here is the full biography of Babagana Umara Zulum, the newly sworn-in governor of Borno State.
Date of birth:
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum was born on August 26, 1969 in Mafa local Government area of Borno State.
Education
Babagana Zulum attended Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, where he obtained a National Diploma in Irrigation Engineering in 1988 after his elementary education at Mafa Primary School (1975 to 1980) and his SSCE at Government Secondary School, Monguno from 1980 to 1985.
From there, he proceeded to the University of Maiduguri to study Agricultural Engineering between 1990 and 1994.
Afterward, he had his mandatory service year in Katsina State at the Katsina State Polytechnic.
His extreme thirst for knowledge made to proceed to the University of Maiduguri he still went ahead to obtain a master’s degree in Soil and Water Engineering from the University of Ibadan from 1997 to 1998.
He came back to the University of Maiduguri for his Doctoral degree which he completed in 2009 in Agric and Environmental Engineering.
Career as a public servant
Zulum’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 Zulum 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 University of Maiduguri as an assistant Lecturer where he rose to the rank of Professor.
Babagana Zulum was Deputy Dean and Acting Dean, Faculty of Engineering in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
In 2011, Babagana Umara was appointed the Rector of Ramat Polytechnic. Meanwhile, he retained his teaching position at the University of Maiduguri.
Political appointment
In 2015, he was made Commissioner of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement by Governor Kashim Shetima of Borno State, a position he held till 2018.
Achievement as a commissioner:
As a commissioner, Babagana Umara Zulum’s coordinated the reconstruction of hundreds of private houses destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgents in Bama Local Government Area.
“So far so good, we have about 60 percent of the private homes reconstructed. “In addition, hospitals, especially the maternity hospital in Bama, have been completely reconstructed.
“Even public schools have been reconstructed through an intervention by the Victims Support Fund, and all the reconstruction has been completed,” he said.
No long convoy, no family and friends! Zulum means work and bet me it will read nation wide that professor babagana umara zulum of Borno state is the best Governor ever in the history of Nigeria!!! pic.twitter.com/biHSc0Zx2e
— bulk_layman (@bulk0001) June 1, 2019
There were other reconstructions works at Konduga LGA, Chibok and Askira -Uba and other areas in the state.
Political endorsement by Shettima
On September 29, 2018 governor of the state at the time, Kashim Shettima, endorsed him as his successor.
First-class traditional rulers and Borno Elders settled for Zulum based on his integrity and track records of achievements as commissioner.
Emergence as Borno state governor
On October 1, 2018, he won the gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for Borno State and went ahead to win March 9, 2019 governorship election.
Babagana Umara Zulum understands the terrain of Borno State perfectly well, we hope that he consolidates on his achievements as a commissioner.
We wish him the best!