Change Begins With Me: The presidential villa perspective
Aso Rock; the Presidential Villa is an exclusive preserve of the Nigerian President known with an overwhelming power, conferred on him by the constitution. Nigerians from a distance have always looked towards the seat of government as a most revered and wellfortified hallowed territory. To many, the Villa is a place meant only for a tiny clan of elected eggheads; the privileged few or rather, the ruling elite. Anyone not called into the business of governance may find the place very impenetrable.
In the immediate past, the Presidential villa failed to live up to its name and status. More than a year ago specifically, the seat of power lost its natural ecclesiastic reverence, glamour and unrivalled pride. Driven by kindred spirit, the last chief occupants, allegedly threw the doors wider open for their own and special cronies. The Villa then suddenly became a huge attraction for power mongers, political jobbers, gold diggers and general favour seekers. It got so bad when men and women of little relevance had field days competing for attention in attempts to cut huge deals.
Unbelievably though it seemed, wanted oil heists and drugs kingpins had unrestrained access to the President! In no time, the Villa was completely violated! Before Nigerians could realise the tragedy involved, the seat of government became a coven where their commonwealth was freely butchered and frittered away. The consequence of poor crowd management in the Presidential Villa ended up a monumental disaster, not only for the over exposed past President, but also for the rest of Nigeria!
The level of violation of the Presidential villa, as reported had required some serious physical and spiritual cleansing. That happened before President Muhammadu Buhari moved in. From then on, sanity increasingly returned as the new managers took time to lay very solid standards that are more difficult to subvert and which promises to endure. This is happening as the Change promised by the President is beginning to take its cause.
Lately, President Buhari launched a fresh campaign to promote attitudinal change in Nigerians; Change Begins With Me. Indeed, those who work closely with the President conclude that he is the number one purveyor and mirror of the Change mantra his government has been trading in. That change is starting right from the Presidential Villa, given the way the power zone runs now.
In essence, any visitor to the Presidential Villa today can attest to the improved standards and the changing atmosphere. The crowd that had hitherto been the permanent feature in every department and waiting rooms in the President’s office has thinned out most drastically. The arrangement in place now offers all the officials most especially the President, the right breathing space to engage in serious work. For the President and others, effective management of time and space are a huge opportunity for cutting off distractions, while settling for the arduous business of governance.
It is said that under the now relaxed atmosphere in the villa, the President is in charge and works more efficiently, contrary to general belief. The President is an avid reader as explained. He reads anything in black and white meant for his attention, and with stunning thoroughness. Unknown to many, President Buhari is a writer too. That reflects often in the manner he minutes on memos requiring his attention.
Many in the Villa are of the view that the President is a delight to work with. He cracks jokes to ease off tension when attending to visitors. Many had attested that the President is respectful, open, avuncular and affable. There are reports that the President often times locates old friends and acquaintances from the crowd and had visibly made efforts to bring them closer. He had stunned many with that attribute described as infectious. To keep pace with events within and outside the villa, the President reads newspapers, watches television and listens to Radio, his tight schedules notwithstanding. Surprisingly, the President attends to state matters even on weekends. In all, he is said to be a stickler for time.
President Buhari is said to be focused more than anyone had imagined. He still retains the military mental alertness and the conscious mind to note what goes on around him. Often times, the President broods over events of the day and asks questions from aides to be sure that nothing went wrong around him. In the Villa today, new standards have been established, while everyone willingly fall in line.
From indications, the President’s confidence in the protocol department of the Presidential villa, anchored by Ambassador Lawal Kazaure seems tall and unbending. The reason perhaps lies in the ability of the officials to excel under sustained complex schedules they operate daily. They all work in concert in a manner that no one acts like the boss.
The story here is that work coordination is better enhanced when each officer makes up for the omission of the other to get the job done. It is the reason the department has always been a subject of attack from those who could not understand the efficient mechanism in place to keep undesirable guests away from the Presidential Villa and around the President.
In essence, the effective running of the Presidential villa and a good management of the President’s programmes, time and agenda are a first indication that governance in Nigeria is on the right track again.
The office of the Chief Of Staff and Protocol department ensures that nobody gets to waste the President’s time with inanities. It also cuts down wastefulness in resources earmarked for running of the Nigeria’s government House. By and large, the acts of corruption, which hallmarked the management of the Villa in the past and which has been the root of the present parlous state of Nigeria has been whittled down. The impression now is that if the Presidential Villa begins to work effectively and efficiently with set standards, the beginning of efforts to set Nigeria on the path of revival may have just taken off.