Zulum bags nurse-friendly governor award at commonwealth conference

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has been honoured with the Nurse-Friendly Governor Award at the 2026 Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Conference held in Abuja on Tuesday.

The conference, themed “Towards Excellence: Nurses and Midwives working together towards excellence in practice, education and regulation,” attracted delegates from several Commonwealth countries.

Presenting the award, President of the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation (CNMF), Professor Kathleen McCourt, commended Zulum for his service to humanity, particularly highlighting his housing initiatives for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and investments in healthcare infrastructure.

She said the governor’s approach to addressing the needs of vulnerable populations has set a standard for leadership within the Commonwealth.

Zulum was represented at the event by the Chief Medical Director of the State Hospital Management Board, Professor Abubakar Kullima, alongside the Senior Technical Assistant on Print and Digital Communications to the Governor, Hon. Abdurrahman Ahmed Bundi.

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Earlier, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Haruna Mamman, said the award recipients were selected following an evaluation against criteria approved by the association.

Other governors honoured at the event were from Nasarawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Lagos, Katsina, Plateau, Anambra, and Akwa Ibom states.

Zulum’s initiatives include establishing Colleges of Nursing in the northern and central parts of Borno State.

Organizers also noted that the governor executed 120 projects in his first 100 days in office, 326 in his first year, over 500 in his second year, about 800 in his third year, and approximately 1,500 by his seventh year in office.