President Buhari betrayed Dapchi's girls for a red carpet

Our flop of the week goes to President Buhari, for thinking it was a good idea to waltz on a red carpet into a state where 110 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram.

If I write President Buhari as the flop of the week one more time, I may be tempted to lead a March on Abuja with a team of real media assistants and therapists to teach our dear President a lesson in public perception.

So we've decided to give you the flop of the last week at the beginning of the new week; that way, you can go into the new dispensation with a good idea of what to avoid.

This week, avoid being completely insensitive and playing the inhumane leader, friend or colleague who thinks everything is right because he thinks it is.

Empty Promises and real-life implications

Despite saying, via his aides, lieutenants and everyone's favourite minister that Boko Haram was defeated, the terrorist group kidnapped over 110 girls from a school in Dapchi, Yobe over a week ago.

Days after the incident, President Buhari visited and in a note of "I know you're crying but I'm still the president", he stepped out the plane to a red carpet welcome, literally.

Some may say that this has no real impact on how the government reacts to the situation or whether the girls are rescued, but at a time of mourning, it shows that our political elite is too far removed from the concerns and tears of forlorn mothers in Dapchi to care about how their actions are perceived.

It really isn't that difficult

President Buhari could have visited as one of the people, and promising the government's best efforts. In a way, he did all of it.

But he also distanced himself from them.

It highlights a running problem with his presidency: how total lack of concern for how his actions are interpreted.

It may seem like strong will but it's really just a case of a man who is yet to realise he's an employee of the people.

The people of Dapchi heard their President say, in 2016, that Boko Haram was retreating, yet their daughters were kidnapped. They expected understanding in their time of mourning: instead, they got highhandedness.

Buhari failed them: all for a carpet that can't even fly.