Another Buhari ‘Walker’ arrives in Gombe with over 70 requests to President-elect

Another walker, Malam Abubakar Umar, 43 years, who started trekking from Yola, Adamawa, on Saturday to celebrate the victory of President-elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja arrived Gombe on Thursday where he spent the night.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Umar said he was carrying more than 70 letters of requests from people of the North East region to Buhari which people gave him on his way.

He told NAN that most of the requests he received from the people were urging the president-elect to address insecurity and rebuild the region.

Umar, popularly known as African Duduwalle, said some women had also asked him to appeal to Buhari not to scrap the office of the First Lady.

According to him, the women said the office provided them opportunity to benefit from empowerment opportunities, appointments and other benefits.

“My bag is full of letters and requests from people who said I should give Buhari.

“Women also told me that I should appeal to the president-elect not to scrap the office of the First Lady, which affords women the opportunity to air their views as well as benefit from the government.

“Some people also told me to appeal to the president-elect to do something on the issue of Boko Haram; they even said they would bring photographs of the insurgency to take them to the General,” he said.

The man, who said he was an ardent supporter of Buhari since 2003 when he was a youth leader on the platform of the defunct ANPP, was happy to hear that Buhari had won.

Umar explained that his walk to Abuja was also to identify with notable Adamawa indigenes such as the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Aliyu Mustapha; and wife of the president-elect, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, among others.

The walker said he had earlier planned to ride a bicycle to Abuja, but was encouraged by the trekking of Mr Suleiman Hashimu, who trekked from Lagos to Abuja to celebrate the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate’s victory in the March 28 election.

On his experience on walking a long distance before now, he recalled an instance where he trekked from Adamawa to Cameroun.

NAN reports that officials of Airtel Nigeria received the man and provided him with a smart phone to enhance his communication as he proceeded to his destination, Abuja.
Umar thanked Nigerians from all walks of life that provided him with water, food and other assistance on his way.

Also speaking to NAN, the North East Zonal Business Manager of Airtel Nigeria Ltd, Malam Muhammad Ibrahim, said the company was proud to identify with the man who is an Airtel customer.

Ibrahim said as a social responsibility of the company to the customer who was embarking of such heroic action, the company believed it should support him with means of communication, hence the gift of a smart phone.

He said workers of the company kept contact with him as well as assisted him during his journey and that the assistance would be sustained to ease his burden of his trekking.
NAN also reports that the man, who spent the night in Gombe, continued with his journey to Abuja on Thursday.