Suleiman Hashimu, 32, a native of Funtua in Katsina State recently made history when he trekked for 18 days from Lagos to Abuja to celebrate the election of All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. In this interview, the construction worker narrates how he turned down a N550,000 hotel booking made for him by a wealthy Nigerian....
When did you move to Ibadan from Osun where you were born?
Actually, I have lived in many places: Kaduna, Katsina but I live in Ibadan because I work with a construction company, Gerrad Nigeria limited. I started the journey from Lagos.
Are you still with the company?
Yes, I’m still with them. I’m still part of the company and I also do business.
What led to the promise that you would trek from Lagos to Abuja if Gen. Buhari won?
Actually, you know when you are in love with something, they say love blind. When you love something you can say anything, even impossible things, at any time. That’s what led me into promising myself that if Gen. Buhari contested the 2015 elections and won, I would trek all the way to Abuja; which I did.
How many days did it take you to trek from Lagos to Abuja?
It took me 18 days from Lagos to Abuja.
Can you give a vivid description of how you trekked from Lagos to Abuja?
I started the journey from Lagos though I had wanted to begin from Ibadan because I’m based in Ibadan. But something came to my mind that since Lagos is the Suleiman Hashimumost popular city in Nigeria let me start from there.
Even before the announcement of the result, the Hausa version of Daily Trust, Aminya, had published my picture that someone made a promise that he would trek after the announcement if Buhari won. BBC Hausa Service also interviewed me. I think they announced the results on Wednesday. Then, I left Ibadan on Wednesday evening to Lagos. I passed the night with my friend.
At 4am, I left his place to Berger, which is the most popular junction in Lagos. There’s no way you are going to travel to Lagos or you live in Lagos without knowing Berger. I started by 5:30am.
The most stressful place was that road from Lagos to Oyo because I was looking at Lagos to Ibadan as a small journey. So I tried my best to see if I would be able to cover the journey.
But I got tired from Lagos to Ibadan that very day because I made a rule that anywhere I wanted to move to, I would leave by 6am and stop by 6pm. Anywhere I found myself, whether in a village or town and it got to 6pm, I would have to pass my night there. I later chose a road I knew was busy and safe due to the security situation in the country and the distance from one village to another. So I decided to pass through Kwara State to Niger State.
Do you mean you did not walk on the major road?
I passed through major roads. You know there are two roads to Abuja. There is Akure – Abuja, which most people in Abuja here know. If you are coming through Kaduna or Niger you can pass through the other road, Ilorin.
That’s the old road. That road is busier than this one because most trailer drivers follow that road. There aren’t many hills on that road so I chose to pass through there. And much of the distance between the villages was not up to 20 kilometres unlike the other one. It is also saver than Akure road. I later became familiar with commercial drivers who would park their vehicles and bring something for me.
How did they identify you?
As I said, when I started the journey the most stressful part was from Berger to Oyo. It took me two days to cover Berger to Oyo. I was even getting tired and feeling like I should just change my mind and go back home.
But later when I started approaching Akure, which I think is over 200 kilometres to Lagos, that was when I started getting encouragement from people. Someone would just recognise me and say, ‘I saw you in the papers. Are you not the one trekking to Abuja?’ And before you knew it, you would see people gathering and everybody wanted to take photographs with me.
That really gave me strength and I think I only walked over 200 kilometres alone. The remaining over 500 kilometres, I walked it with other people. Right from Ilorin, people were saying they would not allow me to go alone.
They said they also love Buhari, that it’s not only me that loves Buhari. They would volunteer to walk with me to the next town and then from the next town the people there would say they would take me to the next town.
How did you survive the challenges of hunger, taking your bath and changing your clothes?
Yes, as I said earlier anybody that saw my picture and also saw me along the road noticed that I was wearing only one cloth, which was a red jersey with a black track suit. Why I chose to do it like that was because I had two extra clothes in my bag.
The rule of the trek was that I would start by 6am and end by 6pm. So on my way, anywhere I wanted to pass the night, I would remove those clothes and wash them. You know a jersey dries within three hours. So it would dry before the next day and I would continue my journey.
How about your shoes? How many of them did you use?
Yes, I used about six canvas shoes plus the one that took me to Abuja here.
Do you have the pictures of those things?
I have everything – the canvas shoes and the clothes. When you finished the journey and you became a hero, many Nigerians believed you trekked while some said it was not possible. To me, I said it earlier that I didn’t want anybody to believe me or not believe me.
I did it and it is between me and my God. It is a promise that I made. You know as a Muslim, I told God that if such and such a thing happened, I would do such and such thing; as far as I’m alive and fit I would fulfill it. I never believed that I could even meet 10 people that would gather to take photographs with me or want to see me.
You know as God wants to do things, may be if you are going this way, God will divert you to the other place. It’s God that expanded it, opened it up for people to know me. But my mission before I got to Berger I fulfilled my promise between me and God. I could have taken a bus and got back to Ibadan without anybody knowing. But I thank God when I was coming, different organisations called me, everybody was happy all over the world, not only in Nigeria. People called me from different countries, telling me they heard what I was doing, and that I should keep it up.
That also gave me strength. Some people are doubting me but people that welcomed me from Suleja sent DSS officials with police. Different organisations met me in Suleja, they wanted to welcome me to Abuja. And do you know from Suleja to this office is almost 60 kilometres? Then as we walked that 60 kilometres, four people fainted and one person died. I visited the person in the hospital. I saw his dead body in the mortuary.
But how did you do it, you were not hospitalised after the long walk?
Yes, you can see it is only my legs that are just peeling; something like this… (showing his feet with dried blisters). That’s the only thing. When I started noticing it then I knew I would need a new pair of shoes. So when I asked where I could get a shoe, they asked me which size I was using; and they would just get me a pair of shoes.
When you finished were you not hospitalised?
When I was coming from Suleja there was a hospital on the road, Turkish hospital. They volunteered and made a check on me inside their ambulance. They said I was okay. And they said I could go. They washed my legs. Some Nigerians have said you are a jobless and unemployed graduate who wants favour. How do you react to that?
When you asked me earlier I told me I’m working and I’m a business man. I’m single and if you look at me I’m not hungry. I’m working. I have a big business that can fetch me money. I work with a construction company and I buy precious stones. Those who are into mining business in Oyo State know me.
You met with President elect Muhammadu Buhari. What did he tell you?
Even before meeting the general, seeing his face, the day I set my eyes on him he was just happy. He kept smiling, looking at me. You see how he shook me. He hugged me and shook me. But I have a lot of messages for him because when I was coming people were giving me messages. Everywhere I got to, I went to see the Emir and they told me when you get to Buhari’s place tell him we need so and so things.
I said I din’t think I would see Buhari. But if I see him just write down your messages and I will deliver them. I did. You can see I came with messages and presented them to Mr. President-elect, saying this is what the masses want and I asked them to write them down.
What did he say?
He said, ‘Good of you, I love that.’ You know he is a very simple person. He is a person that needs to know what the masses want.
Is it true that Kano State Government gave you a brand new jeep, someone gave you cash and another person lodged you at Transcorp Hilton?
Actually, I’m not aware of all that. The issue of Transcorp Hilton, even before I arrived Abuja I learnt from a newspaper that someone paid N550,000. I believed that if my parents should see that money or other Nigerians should see that N550,000 it would change their lives and also help others. I thought of it as a waste; that how can somebody just go and pay N550,000? When I was in Suleja the person came and said he was the one that paid for a hotel room for me.
I said, ‘Oga, go and withdraw your money because if I should sleep in that hotel room, I won’t be able to close my eyes. There are so many people that need just N10,000 to start a business but you are telling me that you paid N550,000.’
I rejected that offer. But it was rumoured that you were at Transcorp. I have used like about four hotels now. I spent like two nights at Transcorp but not at that rate of N550,000. I turned down the offer.
Given the nature of your accomplishment, have you contacted Guinness Book of Records?
It is not me that should contact them. They are the ones that should look for me if they are in need of me. I thank God because I didn’t expect all this. I became popular and everybody wants to see me.
What are your immediate plans for the future?
I can see the way everybody is happy with me. I tell people I’m not a politician, I don’t do politics but every Nigerian wants good things for Nigerians. I don’t think whether I will involve myself in any political thing. I want to form an organisation because people are pushing me and telling me their problems. We want to use the organisation to tell government the problems of the masses and what the masses need.
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