Barrister Zannah Mustapha, a Borno State indigene, has been named one of the CNN Heroes for 2021.
The humanitarian, who played a key role in the release of over 100 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, is the only African on the 10-man list.
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In his capacity as the proprietor of Future Prowess Islamic Foundation school, Mustapha has been providing free education to children orphaned by Boko Haram.
According to the organisers of the award, the heroes were selected based on their extraordinary contributions to help improve the lives of others.
Each person on the top 10 CNN Hero list will be awarded $10,000 and the CNN Hero of the Year will receive an additional $100,000.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has praised Mustapha for the development, saying it is a well-deserved honour.
In a statement by his spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, Zulum said Mustapha has brought honour to all the people of Borno, the North East and Nigeria as a whole.
The governor called on other citizens, especially those with means, to find ways of making selfless contributions through opportunities that may not necessarily involve funding.
The award, which is in its 15th edition, will stream live for subscribers via CNNgo (CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV and Android TV) and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android, on December 13, 2021.
Aside Mustapha, other CNN Heroes are Jenifer Colpas (Cartagena, Colombia), Lynda Doughty (Phippsburg, ME), David Flink (New York), Patricia Gordon (Los Angeles, CA), and Hector Guadalupe (New York).
Others are Michele Neff Hernandez (Simi Valley, CA), Shirley Raines (Los Angeles, CA), Ala Stanford (Philadelphia, PA), and Made Janur Yasa (Ubud, Bali, Indonesia).
Mustapha’s humanitarian gesture has fetched him different laurels.
In 2014, he won “The Unsung Hero” award of Daily Trust. Two years later, he was a finalist of the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award. That same year, he won “World Humanitarian Award”, and in 2017, he got UNHCR’s Annual Nansen Award”.
Mustapha also got Aurora Prize Modern Day Hero Award in 2017.
You can vote for Mustapha logging on to CNNHeroes.com via email or Facebook.
Voting ends on December 7, 2021.
