‘He’s always been a man of the people’

Weekly Trust: After all these years, you’ve remained friends with Muhammadu Buhari. How have you achieved that?
Yakamata Kofar Gabas: Whenever he’s around, he looks for me or I would go to see him.
WT: You are not the only one. There are other school mates of yours…
Gabas: Yes. We were all in the same class. We actually number higher than this. Some of us couldn’t make it and sent their regards.
WT: Are visits like this the usual thing anytime he comes or is this some kind of goodbye before he gets sworn-in?   
Gabas: We do visit individually or in twos, but now that he’s going to be president we won’t be able to do so easily because of distance, so we decided to do this.  
WT: So how are your get-togethers usually like?
Gabas: We relive the past, laugh and have a good time enjoying each other’s company. We also remember past incidents, like one time when we went to the market place, came back and saw a cripple pulling himself on the floor. Buhari wondered how such a person would find food and I said ‘What’s your business, he is a beggar’. I also pointed out that since we were both broke, we couldn’t help. Buhari began to cry, as he was worried about the beggar. I have never forgotten that day.
WT: So now that he is about to become the president of Nigeria, what would you all as his classmates advise him to do?
Gabas: Well, as someone who is honest and has compassion for the poor, the advice will not be so much. He should focus on helping the poor as he always has.