Woman who went back to vote after giving birth: ‘I almost cried when Gen. Buhari phoned me (weekly trust Saturday, 30 April 2011) Mahmud Lalo, Jos


General Muhammadu Buhari, spoke with Khadija Auwal, the mother who bravely returned to vote for him few minutes after giving birth. Penultimate Saturday, Khadija went into labour while in the process of accreditation for the presidential election from where she was taken home to deliver the baby, a boy.

To the consternation of many, including her husband, Khadija shortly after putting to bed determinedly went back to join the queue to finish what she had started, she had told Weekly Trust.
Khadija’s husband, Auwal Jibrin, had last week named the boy after General Buhari as a symbol of his reverence for the Daura politician. In reciprocation of the gesture, General Buhari sought for the family’s contacts and called them on phone after reading their story on the pages of Weekly Trust last week.

“He called around 9am on Monday morning and expressed his appreciation and asked after the health of the mother and his baby namesake and I told him that they are all doing fine. He also prayed for the child and the mother,” Auwalu said.


According to the proud father, Buhari also sought permission to speak with his wife, the mother. “I took the phone to my wife and told her that it was General Buhari that wants to speak with her, and she was amazed,” he said, smiling.

Speaking on her conversation with Buhari, Khadija said: “He first asked about my health and that of the baby and I told him that we are all doing fine then he asked us to touch the baby so that he could hear his cry and we did.” Asked how she felt when she learnt that it was Buhari that wanted to speak with her, Khadija replied: “I felt very happy and privileged to have spoken with a former head of state and somebody who millions of Nigerians regard as a symbol of justice. To me, it was something I have never dreamt would happen in my life, and I feel so happy that he took the trouble of calling us. I almost cried.”

For her husband, he felt happy when earlier some of Buhari’s personal assistants called and told him about the impending telephone call. “I was elated when he called, a day that will remain one of the happiest of my life.”

Expressing his adoration for the CPC presidential candidate, Malam Auwalu stated said he named his newborn son after him, “simply because of the love I have for him. Nobody can take him out of my mind except God. At any point in time when he would contest for any position, I and my family would vote for him.” Auwal added that the retired General’s quest for justice is what drew him to support his presidential bid. “As well as his love for the downtrodden,” Auwal added.

Smiling, Auwal said: “The day Buhari retires from politics, whoever he says we should vote for is the person I am going to support, wholeheartedly.”