By Prudence Minayo
The ongoing World Cup has been a blessing to a young Kenyan who has made headlines on various social media platforms and media outlets across the world for directing fans to a nearby metro station. In the online videos, he is seen seated on top of a lifeguad-esque chair donning a foam finger on one hand and a megaphone in the other. He repeats the words: “Metro? This way. Metro? This way,” to fans visiting the historic Souq Waqif market.
Millions fell in love with his enthusiasm and happy attitude and made him trend. The Kenyan was just doing his job, what many would see as an ordinary task, not knowing the love and fame he would receive.
Here is what WoK has gathered about him.
Real Name
The 23-year-old is known as Abubakr Abbass. He was directing fans visiting the historic Souq Waqif to the metro station. While he had a pre-recorded voice, he chose to chant using his own voice. His enthusiasm inspired other employees.
Abbass created a Tik Tok account named metro_man 001, which has so far garnered more than 30,000 followers. His trending Tik Tok videos have also been watched more than 12 million times.
Fans praised him for making people happy. One social media user said that he knows how to put a fun touch on his work while others compared his popularity to that of Argentinian maestro Leo Messi.
According to him, he chanted Metro to engage fans while showing them direction.
“The fans were just passing by and I thought of a way that I could engage them, and have fun with them. Saying ‘metro this way…metro this way’ over and over was tiresome and boring. That is why I wanted to make it interesting,” he said in an online video.
He also encouraged fans to say hi to him and not shy from taking pictures or videos.
Increment
Metro Man was invited to the England vs USA game🤩
The 23-year-old from Kenya, Abubakr Abbass, has become a sensation in Qatar with his enthusiastic way of providing directions to the metro station.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/0ehldl96zY
— Ochieng’ Stephen (@soo_ochieng) November 26, 2022
He has also gifts for his efforts.
A Twitter user named TheRealMvitaOne also said that his visa had been extended and he would receive USD1,100 per month. He also added that he is set to meet the Emir.