…Appoints Professor A.A Kullima CMD
By Inusa Ndahi, Maiduguri
The governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has approved the re-appointment of Barrister Simon Chapwala Malgwi as Chief Adviser on Legal and Administration.
The governor also re-appointed retired Brigadier-General Abdullahi Sabi Ishaq as Special Adviser on Security.
In a related development, Governor Zulum also approved the appointment of Professor Abubakar Ali Kullima as the Chief Medical Director of Borno State’s Hospitals Management Board.
The three appointments were announced by the spokesman to the governor, Malam Isa Gusau, through a statement issued on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.
The Chief Adviser, Legal/Administration, Malgwi, was born on October 21, 1962, in Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State.
Described as a highly intelligent administrator, calm and easy going legal practitioner, Malgwi had served as Special Adviser on Legal and Administrative Matters to Governor Zulum from December 2022 to May 2023.
Malgwi was Borno State’s Head of Service, HoS, between November 25, 2019, till his retirement on October 21, 2022.
Before then, he was Borno State’s Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, between 2014 and 2019.
He was ministerial secretary in the same ministry from January 2010 to October 2014.
He also served as Director of Legal Drafting from 2008 to 2010, after acting in same position from 2003 to 2008, at the Ministry of Justice.
Malgwi was principal state counsel (I) from 1998 to 2002, after he worked as principal state counsel (II) from 1995 to 1998.
He was Resident Senior Counsel in Monguno in 1994, Senior State Counsel from 1992 to 1994 and State Counsel from 1989 to 1991.
Malgwi joined the Borno State Ministry of Justice in 1989 after previously working with Oyo State Ministry of Justice in Ibadan from 1987 to 1998.
Barrister Malgwi holds a Bachelors Degree in Law, LL.B Hons, obtained in 1986 from the University of Jos and was called to the bar in 1987, after attending the Nigerian Law School in Lagos.
He holds a certificate in legal drafting from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Lagos, in 1993.
Malgwi attended Government College in Maiduguri between 1975 to 1980 after being a pupil at Marama Primary School in Hawul from 1969 to 1975.
The new Chief Adviser
had served in numerous government committees on civil service, and other public matters in Borno State.
A winner of Nigerian Bar Association’s award for meritorious service, among other awards, Barrister Malgwi is highly respected in the legal community and by other professionals.
Retired General Ishaq was born in Ilesha, Kwara State, on January 13, 1965. He was appointed Special Adviser on Security to Governor Zulum and served in same capacity between March 2021 and May 2023, before his re-appointment today into same office.
Throughout his first appointment, General Ishaq played a crucial role in Borno’s ongoing Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration, DDR, of thousands of repentant Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents.
General Ishaq had retired from the Nigerian Army on January 10, 2021, after 35 years of service.
He was involved in the Nigerian military’s fight against Boko Haram in Borno State for five years.
His last posting was the coordinator of the Nigeria Police component of Operation Lafiya Dole from December 2018 to January, 2021.
Before then, he was commander of 8 Provost Group of the army in Monguno from February 2016 to February, 2018.
Before arriving Borno in 2016, retired Brigadier General Ishaq had, at different times, served as Director of Standard and Evaluation, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja; Chief Instructor of Nigeria Army’s School of Military Police in Zaria; and the Special Investigation Bureau in Apapa, Lagos. He also served in the Army Corps of Military Police, Abuja; a member of the United Nations, UN, Mission to Sierra Leone; and was Company Commander, Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna.
His service points also include 1 Provost Group of army in Kaduna, Army Corps of Military Police in Apapa, Lagos; 2 Provost Company in Ibadan, as Platoon Commander; Command Day Secondary School, Bauchi, as Instructor; and 23 Armoured Brigade Transport Company, also in Bauchi.
General Ishaq was a recipient of military medals, including a Force Service Star, FSS; Meritorious Service Star, MSS; and Distinguished Service Star, DSS, in recognition of his 30 years of unblemished service in the Nigerian Army, as well as medals from Operation Lafiya Dole and the United Nations.
General Ishaq had attended a wide range of security courses, and holds a Masters’ degree in Law and Enforcement of Criminal Justice from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from University of Jos.
He attended Kwara State College of Technology, Baptist Grammar School, in Okuta, Kwara State, and Zonal Education School Board in Ilesha, also in Kwara.
The new CMD of the state’s Hospitals Management Board, Professor Kullima, was born on February 10, 1966, and hails from Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.
Kullima is a medical practitioner, a “specialist’s obstetrician and gynecologists,” and a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Maiduguri College of Medicine from 2018 to date.
He has “special interests in Fetomaternal Medicine and Reproductive Health.”
The professor has over 30 years “intensive and diverse range of experience in teaching, researching, publishing, and consulting on Maternal Newborn and Child Health, MNCH,” issues in Nigeria.
He has over the years, “managed and delivered an impressive portfolio of projects, dealing with highly sensitive public health issues, including: on adolescent reproductive health and program design, implementation, supervision and appraisal of impact of interventions and infectious disease prevention, including malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS prevention in Nigeria.
Professor Kullima has consulted with national and international development partners, especially UN agencies on developing and implementing interventional programmes on public health issues, particularly in relation to MNCH.
His academic qualifications include: certificates in Part II Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, FMCOG, obtained in November, 2009; Part II Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the West African College of Surgeons, WACS, obtained in October, 2007; Part I Fellowship from the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria in May, 2006; Part I Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the WACS in April, 2006; Certificate course in Adolescent Reproductive Health from Margret Sanger Centre International, in South Africa, 2003; Primary Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria in November, 2002 and Primary Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the West African College of Surgeons October, 2002.
Before these, Professor Kullima had obtained Masters’ in Business Administration from the University of Maiduguri in 1996. He also holds Diploma in Computer Application and Appreciation from Data Quest Computer Center in Maiduguri, 1994.
The Professor holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, (
MBBS, degree from University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, obtained in 1990.
He had earlier attended Government Science Secondary School, Monguno, where he graduated with GCE in 1983.
Kullima was a pupil of Abba Ganaram Primary School in Maiduguri where he graduated in 1978.
He had previously served as Head of Department, HoD, of Obstetrics Gynaecology Department of the University of Maiduguri College of Medicine and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital; Reader, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Maiduguri College of Medicine from 2015 to 2018; Senior Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Maiduguri College of Medicine, between 2013 and 2015; Honourary Consultant, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, from 2011 to date.
He was also Chief Consultant and HoD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, Yobe State from February 2008 to June 2011; Visiting Consultant, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, Yobe State from 2011 to date; Senior Registrar, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital from 2006 to 2007.
The Professor was also Registrar for Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital from 2002 to 2003 and Senior House Officer, Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the same UMTH from 2000 to 2002.
He previously worked as Principal Medical Officer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Borno State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, from 1998 to 2000; Senior Medical Officer at the Maternity Nursing Home, now Muhammad Shuwa Memorial Hospital, in Maiduguri, from 1996 to 1998 and Principal Medical Officer at the General Hospital, Azare, in Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State from 1992 to 1996.
As an educator, Professor Kullima has trained hundreds of medical students, in addition to saving hundreds of lives through his medical practice.
Governor Zulum congratulates Professor Kullima, General Ishaq and Barrister Malgwi on their appointments, which takes immediate effect,
pending swearing-in.
