Borno State Governor, Babagana  Zulum, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Pan-African Leadership Award (PALA) in Canada.

Zulum, currently in New York for the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81), is part of the Nigerian delegation that accompanied the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, who led Nigeria’s team to summit.

Before proceeding to the United States, the governor held a series of high-level strategic engagements in Canada, where he signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Borno State government with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) on technical education, workforce development and skills transfer among other areas designed to strengthen the human capital base driving Borno’s post-insurgency recovery.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Dauda Iliya, in a statement, said: “Zulum’s nomination was conveyed in a letter from the Executive Director of the African Writers Endowment (AWE), the New Jersey-based non-profit organisation, Dr Ugorji O. Ugorji, who said Zulum was selected in recognition of his “remarkable accomplishments as an scholar and administrator,” alongside his distinguished tenure as Governor of Borno State, particularly for stemming the tide of insecurity and significantly reshaping the infrastructural landscape of the state.”

He said the award was presented at the “Quintessence Ball: A Celebration of African People in World History,” which brings together African people from Africa, North America, and the Caribbean.

According to Ugorji, the award is presented each year to at least one continental African leader and one African American leader, “for distinguished accomplishments in the person’s field of endeavour, and for outstanding contributions to the history and heritage of African people.”

This year’s edition of the Quintessence Conference and Awards was chaired by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, CFR, former Chief of Staff to the late President Muhammadu Buhari and one-time Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, who was himself the maiden recipient of the award in 1998.

With the recognition, Zulum joins a distinguished roll of past laureates that includes Professor Chinua Achebe, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Congressman Donald Payne, Professor Toyin Falola, Professor Molefi Kete Asante, and former Governors Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Kayode Fayemi, among other eminent Africans and African Americans.