Apparently, President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to shock Nigerians with his darkly entertaining side which comes out to play at certain opportune moments, such as was witnessed at his meeting with the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) Movement. Last Thursday, a meeting with the group of parents of the abducted Chibok girls and sympathisers went south after President Buhari made several mistimed comments and left without a backward glance. Or any kind of glance for that matter.

According to popular BBOG Spokeswoman, Aisha Yesufu, who described the entire encounter that the movement had with the president on Twitter, Buhari did everything wrong at the event, from making the meeting about him and his ‘accomplishments’, to barely acknowledging the parents of the girls who were present at the meeting during or after the event.

The event held after Buhari [reluctantly] agreed to meet with the BBOG movement following the refusal of its members to back down from demanding to have direct audience with him, despite the attempts to convince the group otherwise. Unsurprisingly, the BBOG movement was in for a disappointing meeting with the Nigerian president given the following incidents that took place.

“Perhaps this meeting should be about thanking me?”

Buhari made no effort to try and reassure the grieving gathering on what to expect from his government, as far as attempts to recover the girls are concerned. Instead, the people present were made to understand that he ordinarily should have no business even trying to rescue the girls in the first place, as the unfortunate deed occurred before his tenure.

Thus making the girls out to be yet another Federal Government project that could not be completed because the incumbent administration and the preceding one do not share the same vision for the country. And on the rare occasion that one administration decided to be the ‘bigger person’ and take on the unfinished project, their generosity must be acknowledged.

Yesufu’s tweets also explained how the BBOG movement is meant to understand that Buhari needs a break as he has no intelligence on the whereabouts of the girls and can barely afford the expense at the moment, judging by the discoveries being made in his ongoing anti-corruption war.

A president disconnected

While Buhari explained what he perceives to be the situation, he appeared oblivious to the people or the atmosphere present in the Banquet Hall where he spoke. Yesufu tweeted that the president of Nigeria failed to make any personal connection whatsoever with the Nigerians in the room who wanted to speak to their leader and fellow man about the unthinkable situation that befell them on April 15, 2014 and the agony that it has put them in since then.

First of all, the president failed to make any connection with the parents of the girls who today have spent 21 months away since they were abducted.  There was no personal connection. The president finished his talk at the microphone and walked out. That was an opportunity for us as a nation to connect with the parents and after that apologize to them for what has happened and make them feel that they are not alone in this whole tragedy that has befallen them

After concluding his ‘self-defence’ and outlining his achievements as a military man and as a democrat, the uncomforted gathering watched as Buhari dropped the microphone a little too strongly and walked out on them. As Yesufu put it, Buhari showed “No empathy. No connection. Just coldness.”

In summary, the event which should have reflected that President Buhari cares about what happens to Nigerians and the safety of the areas that they live, was instead used to ‘assure’ Nigerians that they probably will not be privy to the support and collaboration of a leader any time soon.

When would we stop? Not Until Our Girls Are Back And Alive #NotWithoutOurDaughters#BringBackOurGirlsNOW & ALIVE #HopeEndures

— Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) March 28, 2016