Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on Wednesday received honorary fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Architects.
The event took place in Abuja during which Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, governors of Kaduna and Taraba States were amongst those honoured.
In his reaction, Zulum reaffirmed his commitment to providing leadership that can make the lives of the people better.
“At our own level, we will continue to provide the needed leadership, the political will and the needed commitment to make lives better, the governor said.
Governor Zulum also expressed concern that in most government agencies and even private sectors expatriates are prioritized to execute projects over local manpower.
“We have many engineers, town planners and architects that can competently work in Nigeria, but unfortunately we are not patronizing them. We are unnecessarily obsessed by the so called expatriates even though many of them cannot match with our local manpower here in Nigeria. Let us support them, that is the only way we can promote our local content,” Zulum said.
The governor expressed gratitude to the NIA for giving him the award.
“Let me extend my deep appreciation to the Nigerian Institute of Architects for finding me worthy of this award,” he said.
The NIA was established on April 1,1960 as an association of independent professional architects with the objectives of fostering friendship amongst members, cater for their welfare and establish mutual support and cooperation amongst them.
Zulum, a Professor of Irrigation Engineering, is a professional fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
The governor has received more than 10 honours that include fellowship of National Post Graduate Medical College, University of Ibadan Alumni of the year, award from Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineering, Ordre National Du Niger Grand Officer, Niger Republic National Honour which is Nigeria’s equivalent of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), Vanguard Newspapers personality of the year, Leadership Newspapers’ personality of the year, Tell Magazine’s Governor of the Year, Zik Prize for Leadership among other prestigious awards.
