Zulum Welcomes Foreign Envoys to Spotlight Borno’s Recovery Efforts

By: Adamu Aliyu Ngulde

Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State on Tuesday hosted ambassadors from seven countries and senior United Nations and Nigerian officials, as part of a high-level visit aimed at assessing humanitarian conditions and post-conflict recovery efforts in Nigeria’s northeast.

The delegation included the ambassadors of India, Egypt, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Malaysia and Qatar, accompanied by the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, and Nigeria’s minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Bernard Doro. The visit comes more than a decade after an Islamist insurgency displaced millions and devastated communities across Borno.

During the trip, the envoys were taken on a tour of education, health and human capital projects implemented by the Zulum administration. The tour, led by the state’s acting governor, Umar Usman Kadafur, showcased vocational training centers, comprehensive schools and malnutrition treatment facilities designed to support displaced and vulnerable populations.

Speaking to journalists in Maiduguri, Mr. Fall commended the state government’s investments, saying they reflected a deliberate effort to move beyond Borno’s image as a conflict zone. “Beyond the headlines we always see around security challenges, there are transformative things taking place in Borno State,” he said, pointing to programs in girl-child education, vocational skills and nutrition as evidence of progress.

Mr. Fall added that education remained central to long-term stability in the region. “If you want to change the game, you have to touch the root causes of the crisis,” he said. “One of those root causes is ensuring good education for the children of the state.”

Mr. Doro, the humanitarian affairs minister, also commended the governor’s leadership, describing the level of development as striking given the scale and duration of the conflict. “Despite crises that have lasted for over ten years, what we have seen here shows real commitment,” he said, noting facilities designed to equip residents with skills to escape poverty.

The visit underscored growing international interest in Borno’s transition from emergency response to recovery, even as humanitarian needs remain acute and security challenges persist in parts of the state.