Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum  Monday exhibited  humility personified by rejecting the naming of any facility after him while still in office.

“No, no, I will not allow any project to be named after me while I am in office. It should be after my tenure of office.” says Gov Zulum while rejecting the naming of two blocks of hostel in his honour, at the Ramat Polytechnic,  Maiduguri.

Zulum was at the State-owned Polytechnic to commission the hostels for 1,500 students, which was recently renovated and re-equiped by the State’s Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation.

The twin-project, funded by internally generated revenue  from the Polytechnic’s commercial activities, was named “Engr. Professor Babagana Umara Zulum Male Students’ Hostel” but soon as it was announced, Zulum categorically asked that it should be renamed.


Also while reading a plaque he unveiled to commemorate the commissioning, Gov  Zulum skipped the part his name was mentioned and instead said, “in commemoration of the commissioning of male students’ hostel”. 

The Governor  however paid glowing tribute to the Commissioner of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Engr. Dr. Babagana Mustapha for the  remarkable turn around of the Polytechnic’s fortunes.

The Polytechnic has been under the Commissioner’s direct supervision since September 2021, when Governor Zulum suspended management of the school. 

Zulum took the action when he paid an  impromptu visit to the school and was disappointed with the state of affairs. 

During the visit, he  lamented that some facilities he knew well at the school, including laboratories, were no longer functional. 

Dailyledgerng.com.ng reports that Zulum was Rector of the Polytechnic from 2011 to 2015. He also earned a National Diploma in Engineering in 1988 from the Polytechnic  before going for his first degree, Masters, and PhD at the Universities  of Maiduguri and Ibadan respectively