By Najib Sani
Bauchi
Five residents of Bauchi local government area, Bauchi state, have declared intention to travel on foot to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to thank the Almighty Allah over the victory of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and pray to Allah to help him deliver the expected dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
The intending travellers, who include Abubakar Daguma, 45, Abdullahi Hussaini, 36, Dahiru Aminu, 33, Kabiru Saleh, 35, and Muhammed Inuwa Yawale, 45, explained that the journey which would commence a day after Buhari takes over power on May 29 would finish within three months when they expect to arrive in Mecca.
Speaking to newsmen yesterday at the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Bauchi, spokesman of the intending trekkers, Kabiru Saleh, said they were motivated to embark on the journey by the confidence they had in the president-elect that he would surmount the numerous problems bedevilling the nation.
He said: “We know Buhari as a man of dignity, integrity, honesty and patriotism. We believe that his administration will address the challenges facing the country and better the lives of the masses. That is what informed our decision to trek to Saudi Arabia to thanks Allah for blessing Nigeria with Buhari and pray for our country because Allah will answer us if we pray in the holy land.”
He said they had sought the approval of their wives, children and family members before they decided to embark on the journey even as he added that doctors had confirmed to them that they were healthy enough to do that.
Saleh further stated that they would write to the security agents and immigration officers to notify them on the trip, stressing that they would start walking from Bauchi emir’s palace to Maiduguri, Borno state, to Chad, to Sudan, to Jidda and stop in Mecca.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to assist them with prayers so that God would protect them from all potential dangers throughout the journey.