“Home of Peace”
- Capital
- Maiduguri
- Created
- 3 February 1976
- Population
- 6,111,500 2022 estimate
- LGAs
- 27
His Excellency
Babagana Umara Zulum
Executive Governor of Borno State
All Progressives Congress North-East
- In office since
- 29 May 2019
- Term
- 2nd term
- Term ends
- May 2027
- Deputy
- Umar Usman Kadafur
Biography
Babagana Umara Zulum (born 25 August 1969) is a Nigerian professor of soil and water engineering and politician who has served as Governor of Borno State since 29 May 2019. Born in Mafa Local Government Area, he studied at the University of Maiduguri and the University of Ibadan before an academic career at the University of Maiduguri.
Under Governor Kashim Shettima he headed the new Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement from 2015, overseeing rebuilding of communities destroyed by Boko Haram. He won the 2019 governorship election on the APC platform and was re-elected in March 2023 with 545,543 votes. In 2020 he became chairman of the North East Governors' Forum.
Zulum's tenure has focused on resettling displaced persons, rebuilding schools, clinics and houses, and supporting farmers returning to their land, guided by a 25-year development plan launched in 2020. His convoy has been attacked by insurgents on several occasions. He received the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2022. His second and final term ends in May 2027.
Career before office
Zulum began in the Borno State civil service in 1989 and later worked in the local government service as a water engineer. He joined the University of Maiduguri as an assistant lecturer in 2000 and rose to professor, serving as deputy dean and acting dean of engineering. He was rector of Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, from 2011 and in 2015 became Borno's pioneer Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement.
Key initiatives in office
- Borno 25-year development plan and 10-year strategic transformation initiative launched in 2020
- Resettlement of displaced communities, with the state reporting over two million IDPs returned or resettled
- Construction of thousands of resettlement houses for insurgency victims
- Construction of mega schools and rehabilitation of education facilities across the state
- Agricultural support for returning farmers under the state's recovery programme
Education
- BEng Agricultural Engineering, University of Maiduguri
- MSc Agricultural Engineering, University of Ibadan (1998)
- PhD Soil and Water Engineering, University of Maiduguri (2009)
Borno State at a glance
North-East
Other governors in the zone
Gombe State
Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya
Adamawa State
Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri
Bauchi State
Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed
Taraba State