SULEIMAN HASHIMU – THE MAN WHO STARTED THE TREKKING TREND
The trekking fever has caught up with five residents of Bauchi State, who have revealed their plans to embark on a three-month long trek from the state to Saudi Arabia in honour of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari.
The trekkers are Dahiru Aminu, 33; Abdullahi Hussaini (36), Kabiru Saleh (35), Abubakar Daguma (45) and Mohammed Yawale (45).
You may recall that the trekking-for-politicians trend was started by one Suleiman Hashimu, who claimed to have trekked from Lagos to Abuja in fulfilment of a promise he made to himself that he would trek the distance if Buhari emerges victorious at the March 28 presidential poll, which he did.
Speaking on behalf of the group, the Secretary, Yawale, said the trekking was to identify with Buhari because of his persistence for the past 12 years in contesting the presidential election till he won in his fourth attempt.
The trekkers said they were ready to sacrifice their lives for their mission which they added was a just cause for them.
Yawale said, “We are motivated by the man, who trekked from Lagos to Abuja for Buhari’s victory. We also decided to trek from Bauchi to Saudi Arabia to show our profound appreciation to God for giving him victory.
“Buhari tried for 12 years to become President of this country but God didn’t make it possible for him. Now he has given him the opportunity to lead this nation. Nigeria is a decayed state and we believe that Buhari will fix things in the country”.
Yayale expressed the confidence that they would spend at least three months to trek from Bauchi to Saudi Arabia, dismissing all the risks involved, especially as they would pass through Maiduguri, which is currently battling insurgency.
“We will trek from Bauchi to Maiduguri and from there, we will get to Chad and then Sudan then we will proceed to Jeddah before arriving in Saudi Arabia.
“By our calculations, we will get there in three months’ time. We will begin a day after the swearing in of Buhari.
“We are ready to sacrifice our lives for this mission because we believe it is a just one. We implore all Nigerians to pray for us that God will give us success in our journey”, the secretary of the team said.
Yawale added that though they were healthy, they would still visit the hospital for a thorough medical check-up to ascertain their physical fitness for the three-month journey to the Holy land.