COLUMN: A presidential villa without the President

The Presidential Villa, Abuja houses the President, the Vice
President as well as members of their immediate families.
Some presidential aides also reside inside the well-fortified
premises.
Apart from residing there, these Nigeria’s first two citizens
also have their offices inside the Villa. While the President
can trek from his official residence to his office in less than
five minutes, the same cannot be said of the Vice President
who will have to be driven for about 10 minutes from his
Aguda House official residence before getting to his office.
The proximity or otherwise of their residences to their offices
is not the focus of this piece.
Three weeks after their inauguration, the President and Vice
President have yet to relocate to the Villa. That also is not
news to many.
The focus of this write-up is however how the continued
absence of these men of power from the seat of power has
made the place desolate and deserted.
Any part of the Villa you step in lately, desolation will stare
you at the face. Even the scanty number of cars in the car
parks bears attestation to the fact that the place is
deserted.
Since the two men are not inside, there are no top
government officials or politicians to visit the seat of power.
The open space designated for convoy vehicles of dignitaries
had been deserted for weeks.
Even sales at the Officers’ Mess located near one of the car
parks, I was told, had reduced drastically. Apart from
members of staff who buy food and assorted drinks from the
mess, it also services drivers and aides of big men and
women who visit the Villa daily. While their principals are
busy inside with the purpose of their visits, their aides,
including security details and drivers, keep themselves busy
in the mess either with hot plates of food or “perspiring”
bottles of either alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks.
All these have changed since the two big men have not
turned up in the Villa. Members of staff who turned up very
early throughout the first week after the President’s
inauguration have since come to terms with the fact that he
is not in a hurry to relocate.
To complicate the issue, the President has yet to name
principal aides who could have filled the gap by making
things happen inside the Villa. From the President’s side to
the Vice President’s Wing, offices are deserted.
There is no Chief of Staff yet; no Principal Secretary; no
Deputy Chief of Staff; among others. The few that have been
appointed cannot resume inside the Villa when their principal
is still outside. So they operate from outside.
Despite the absence of the President and the Vice President
however, water-tight security is still maintained in the seat of
power. Those entering are still subjected to security
screening at different points.
Let us do it again next weekend.

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