Background: Data on physical activity and sleep quantity as important correlates of quality of life among individuals with diabetes in northwestern Nigeria are not available. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the pattern of self-reported physical activity, sleep duration and quality of life in persons with diabetes mellitus attending diabetic clinics for follow up. Methods: One hundred and twenty four individuals diagnosed with diabetes (mean age: 54.61) at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital and Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital in Kano, northwestern Nigeria were purposively recruited to participate in the study. Information on their level of physical activity, quantity of sleep and quality of life was obtained using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, sleep using a single item measure (by asking the question “How many hours of sleep did you experience last night?”) and the Short Form-36 Health Survey respectively. Nighttime sleep duration was calculated in hours and the mean for the past seven days was recorded. Respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics were also obtained while their anthropometric parameters (weight, height and BMI) were measured using standard protocols. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Spearman correlation) at a probability level of 0.05. Results: Majority of the respondents (56.5%) had low physical activity level followed by those with moderate (37.9%), and then high physical activity (5.6%). 57 (46%) of the respondents had nocturnal sleep duration (from usual time of going to bed and waking up in the morning) of <6 hours while 67 (54%) of them experienced duration of 6 to 8 hours. The result obtained on quality of life was for both physical and metal component summaries. While 86% of respondents had physical component summary of less than 50, 13% had ?50. Those with mental component summary of less than 50 (57.3%) were also more than those with values ?50 (42.7%). There was no statistically significant correlation between physical activity and either of the two clinical variables (sleep duration [p = 0.075, r = 0.160] and quality of life [SF-36 PSC, p = 0.435, r = 0.071; SF-36 MSC, p = 0.379, r = -0.080]). In addition, sleep duration did not significantly correlate with respondents’ quality of life (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that the majority of the individuals with diabetes mellitus in the selected health facilities were not meeting any of the criteria for either moderate or high levels of physical activity with sleep duration being inadequate for optimal quality of life and general wellbeing.