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 well-fortified 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 drug 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 course.

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. An interesting dimension to the new orientation in the Villa is that the President works sometimes with body language that makes all his aides sit tight to excel in their work schedules. No one loafs around when the President is on his desk attending to pressing national matters. 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.

From findings, those enjoying the new lease of life in the Presidential Villa owe the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari, and his immediate lieutenants in the Protocol department some gratitude. Any day, the management of the President’s complex routine of work is an enormous task. Yet, the President’s Protocol seems to have mastered the art while leaving little or no fault lines for attention.

Notwithstanding criticisms, the office of chief of the staff and protocol department, from disposition gets more diligent in mounting fool-proof arrangement to keep the villa running effectively to give the President less hassle. Experience and full dedication to work drive the conduct of officials in the protocol department of the Presidential Villa.

Under President Buhari, any willing visitor to the villa must be put on schedule. Nobody, no matter how influential, can bump on the President, unlike before. Even visitors to the President’s residence must be on schedule, and registered in black and white. Indeed, foreign visitors to Nigeria rate the protocol department in the Presidential Villa high in efficiency.

Nonetheless, a meeting with the Nigerian President under the new arrangement is not a herculean task. First, the President can signify who he wants to see, while the protocol department takes care of the fixing of time and movement. On the other hand, all a willing visitor needs do is send a request memo to the office of the chief of staff and that of the State Chief of Protocol (SCOP), stating very genuine reason (s) for a meeting. Such a visitor eventually gets to meet the President on approval of request. The idea is that in this new era, nobody pays a ‘toll’ to any one for appointment to see the Nigerian President.

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 co-ordination 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 Nigerian Government House. By and large, the acts of corruption, which hallmarked the management of the villa in the past and which are the root of the present parlous state of Nigeria have 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.

•Engr. Adebayo Briggs is an Abuja-based business consultant and media analyst. Photo shows President Buhari.

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