by Alexander O. Onukwue

When it was announced early on Saturday, August 19, that President Muhammadu Buhari would return to Nigeria from London, there was two things to look forward to.

The physical arrival of the President at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 4.36pm was the first, while everyone looked forward to the national broadcast that was to come about 40 hours later.

Why? Because, barring the speech made in Hausa to commemorate Eid-el-Fitr on the 25th of June, Nigerians have not had the opportunity to hear directly from their leader. Coupled with the state of affairs in the country, it was expected that the President would, with his new found energy, rouse a groaning nation and douse its palpable tense.

But lo, it was – terse.

It really did not help that the text of the address had been read in the papers and broadcast on pre-dawn news by various radio stations. What would be the value of listening to him live if every single word of what he was going to say was already public? Not known for being particularly oratorical, the least that could have happened in terms of momentousness was to hear him make some solemn words and have the feeling that every other Nigerian around the world was hearing it at the same time.

That should have been a symbolic way to unite the nation, at a time of so many divisions, both ethnic and religious.

Media aides have made much about the conviviality of President Buhari but why that cannot be extended towards the cameras for all Nigerians to get a feel of is rather unclear. The address felt more rebuke and rebuttal than an appeal to reclaim lost time, which should have been the focal point. The argument would be that the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has been Acting in full capacity, hence no vacuum, but surely that doesn’t sell to cover up for a 3-month absence of the democratically elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

For what it’s worth, the President’s actual contribution to the address would have been as minimal as you can expect from someone who only just returned from a long medical vacation. The scrawl of one particular aide just looks written all over the speech, more an extension of his posts on facebook. President Buhari may have been presented with the image of the cheering crowds on his way to the villa from the airport as the true state of the country, hence that speech, but given the heat in the country before he left, he should have known better.

As far as a presidential address goes, he really could have done better.