Peasant who gave birth while waiting to vote Buhari gets lifeline

The Plateau State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong has intervened in the plight of a Jos-based woman who in 2011 named her son Muhammadu Buhari after giving birth to the boy while on the queue to vote for Buhari in the presidential election of that year.

Lalong has undertaken to provide her with empowerment funds, pay her son’s school fees and relocate her family to a better house.

Daily Trust first did a report on Khadija Awalu in 2011 when she surprised many by going into labour while waiting her turn at the polling station to vote for Buhari, then a candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

She had climbed the hilly rock of her home in Anguwan rogo, delivered the baby, then returned minutes later to cast her vote for Buhari. Daily Trust on Saturday had subsequently done two follow-up reports on the woman, the latest being this past Saturday when she spoke about her family’s economic hardship and inability to pay the school fees of her eldest son.

The story attracted several personalities, including the Presidency and the Plateau State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong who invited the 35-year-old and gave her empowerment funds and directed that she be relocated to a better house.

“I have taken the responsibility of paying your son’s school fees,” Lalong said.

In tears, Khadija Awalu, who has said she never dreamt she could ever come face to face with a governor, expressed her appreciation to Daily Trust and the governor, stressing, “I have heard many people speak about how kind and simple our governor is. May God bless him.”