• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

      PRNigeria logo fearured image

      EFCC Arraigns Ex-Convict, Other for Naira Abuse in Lagos

      EFCC Arrests 37 Suspected Internet Fraudsters in Ilorin

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Ibrahim Yahaya Dandakata of Arewa Economic Forum AEF

      AEF Slams CBN’s New BDC Policy, Cites Threat to Northern Economy…

      Google Search Tech Digest

      7 Smart Google Search Tips That Will Save You Hours By…

      U.S. VISA

      REVEALED: Why US Reduced Visa Validity for Nigerians to 3 Months…

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Nigeria Customs Takes Anti-Money Laundering Fight to the Skies

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Nigeria Customs, ICPC and the Audit of Conscience

  • National
    • Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Customs Hands Over 99.2bn Worth of Illicit Pharmaceutical Products to NAFDAC

      President Muhammadu Buhari

      Rat Story Was a Smokescreen to Divert Attention from Buhari’s Health…

      Nigerian Banks

      Nigeria’s Second Chance at a Global Cashless Future By Fatimah Yusuf…

      Air Chief Rallies New Intelligence Officers for Proactive Security Response

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Customs, NAFDAC Activate MoU to Fight Substandard Products By Abdullah Maiwada

    • Government
      • Mohammed Idris

        Local Government Autonomy Not Negotiable — FG Declares

        NELFUND

        NELFUND Resumes Monthly Upkeep Payments, Credits Over 3,600 Students

        Seal of the Nigerian Senate

        NNPCL Must Account for ‘Unreconciled’ N210tr in Financial Statements – Senate…

        Senator Kashim Shettima

        Presidency Debunks Misleading Reports on VP Shettima’s Remarks at Book Launch

        Shamsedeen Babatunde Ogunjimi

        OAGF Explains Delay in June Salaries for Some Civil Servants

  • Security
    • Defence Minister Abubakar Badaru

      Nigeria’s Future Rests on Smart Defence Management — Badaru to Military…

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Customs Hands Over 99.2bn Worth of Illicit Pharmaceutical Products to NAFDAC

      Troops Intercept 3 Gunrunners, Seize Weapons, Cash in Kaduna

      Military Troops

      Troops Bust IPOB/ESN Logistics Network, Arrest Informants in Southeast — DHQ

      Soludo and Radda’s Candid Confessions on Homegrown Terror By Tahir Ahmad

  • Features
    • Soludo and Radda’s Candid Confessions on Homegrown Terror By Tahir Ahmad

      Nigerian Banks

      Nigeria’s Second Chance at a Global Cashless Future By Fatimah Yusuf…

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Customs, NAFDAC Activate MoU to Fight Substandard Products By Abdullah Maiwada

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Rebranding Royalty: Saudi Arabia’s Response to Iran’s Fall By Baba El-Yakubu

      Kanam Ambush: The Danger of Embarking on an Unauthorized Mission By…

  • State
    • Troops Intercept 3 Gunrunners, Seize Weapons, Cash in Kaduna

      Soludo and Radda’s Candid Confessions on Homegrown Terror By Tahir Ahmad

      Police repatriates Chinese Fugitive wanted for Tax fraud

      Police Arrest, Repatriate Chinese Fugitive Wanted for Tax Fraud

      court Judiciary

      Murder of Wedding Guests: Plateau Court Remands 20 Suspects

      Army Vows to Tackle Oil Theft, Restore Nigeria’s 2mbpd Output

  • Event
    • Asiwaju Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo

      47 Years of Excellence: Honoring Asiwaju Awomolo, SAN

      NCoS inmates

      58 Inmates in Kano Sit for 2025 NECO Exams, Thanks to…

      Troops of the Nigerian Army giving a salute

      162nd Anniversary: Tinubu Salutes Nigerian Army, Hails Troops as Guardians of…

      President & Chairman of Governing Council, Dr. Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Lauds Nigerian PR Firms for Outstanding Performances at 2025 SABRE…

      SCN NGO signs partnership with PRNIGERIA

      SCN NGO Seals Partnership with PRNigeria to Amplify its Humanitarian Projects

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Features Professor Zulum and his ‘empty seat of power’
  • Features

Professor Zulum and his ‘empty seat of power’

By
Isa Gusau
-
January 31, 2022
The Governor's seat

Professor Zulum and his ‘empty seat of power’

By Isa Gusau

From the most part of March 2020 to date, I have observed that Borno’s governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, abandons the executive red chair, and desk in his main office at the Government House in Maiduguri.

So far, Prof has left that elegant ‘seat of power’ largely idledfor nearly two years.

On Thursday, May 30, 2019, Professor Zulum, for the first time, sat on that powerful red seat, flanked by two Nigerian flags in the elegant office of the governor. He continued to sit on the same red seat whenever he was at his office.

Suddenly, around March 2020, the Professor began to neglect that red seat of power. But why?

By his nature, Professor Zulum is exceedingly a workaholic, an extraordinary goal-getter and he is very time-conscious. It is difficult to hold a 15-minute dialogue without Prof unconsciously talking about one project, programme or policy.The governor’s mind and office are always about work.

While Zulum was using the red chair, he often had to move back and forth between the cosy red seat and a green conference table surrounded by nine chairs at the centre of hisoffice. He prefers to hold meetings on the conference table rather than surrounded around the red seat.

Ahead of every work day, Prof would line up a number of individuals or groups of persons he either invited or gave appointments. For each person or group, he would allocate time, and always conscious of the time he sets. When anyone arrives, Prof would start with a brief salutation and go straight to the point, aiming to conclude individual sessions within five to 10 minutes and offering slightly more time for groups, depending on the issue in focus. Severally, the governor would host commissioners with heads of establishments under their supervisions and technical officials relating to particular projects around the green conference table. Perhaps, because Prof is too time-conscious, the speed with which he hosts meetings and deals with all kinds of issues, makes it less necessary for him to shift from the green conference table back the red ‘seat of power’. With time, Prof unconsciously stopped alternating between the red ‘seat of power’ and the green conference table. It is now nearly two years since Professor Zulum has only been operating from that green conference table, at the expense of the red ‘seat of power’.

I beg your pardon, I think from March 2020 to date, Professor Zulum did sit on the red ‘seat of power’, about 10 to 15 times, and in most instances, he was video recorded for state-widebroadcasts in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, ahead of the June 12 democracy days in 2020 and 2021, and over some serious issues of public concerns.

Aside those momentous occasions, the red ‘seat of power’ stayed empty. Prof continues to operate from the green conference table whenever he is at the office.

But is there a potential message in Professor Zulum’s‘addiction’ to his office’s conference table rather than the red seat?

Read Also:

  • Local Government Autonomy Not Negotiable — FG Declares
  • Nigeria’s Future Rests on Smart Defence Management — Badaru to Military Leaders
  • Customs Hands Over 99.2bn Worth of Illicit Pharmaceutical Products to NAFDAC

In her 2019 research article on the ‘psychology of conference tables’ published by Science of People.com, a behavioural scientist, Vanessa Van Edwards, infers that conference tables convey meanings of serious business and each seat, from that of the boss, to every seat around the conference table, conveysa particular meaning. She implies that anyone walking towards a conference table is bound to develop the mentality of becoming work-focused and less of sociality, whichdefinitely fit into the very nature of Prof Zulum.

As a Professor, who writes and reads a lot of research articles, Zulum apparently realized that seating around a conference table, rather than on the red ‘seat of power’ sends a message to everyone coming into the governor’s office – it’s nothing but work.

Of course, Professor Zulum’s operation from a conference table does not mean that other governors and chief executives who use their official ‘seats of power’ are not dedicated orefficient. It is a matter of style! After all, Zulum himself is far more addicted to working in the field, an attribute from his engineering training, a professor at that discipline.

And as I once wrote, Zulum is an early riser. His work clock begins from 6 am and ends between 11 pm and 12midnight.

Most times, he would send invitations at night to assemble government officials who head organs of particular sectors, particularly education, healthcare and humanitarian services. The officials converge between 6am and 7am next day at the government house. Prof would then appear, often driving himself, to lead a small convoy of two or three private vehicles. At that point, officials who may have fallen short of meeting project targets after being funded may then start praying that the Prof does not visit their projects’ sites. Perhaps, the Prof, as a strict religious adherent, offers counter-prayers earlier at dawn before he sets out. So, he ends up heading straight to the sites that the officials do not want him to visit. Zulum detests poor performances and he rewards productivity so fast, and so well.

I should also hint that Prof has a number of trusted youths that he regularly assigns to obtain corroborative footages and photographs on work progresses, to compare with whatever reports he gets from officials in charge of projects and programmes. No matter how much Zulum trusts any official, the Professor rarely relies entirely on a single source of information. Consistently, he demands corroborative evidences from different sources and his style makes falsehoods less likely to come his way.

Regularly, Prof Zulum argues that keen monitoring and evaluation is one of the key enablers of the successes in private sectors when compared with public sectors. Zulum often cites that some workers earn more in public sectors but less dedicated compared to private workers with less pay, duelargely to strict monitoring and evaluation in private sectors.

In the meantime, Zulum had in his 2022 budget address,announced a critical plan to introduce a new system of effective monitoring and evaluation in Borno’s public institutions, starting with schools, hospitals and water services.

Certainly, Zulum’s regular monitoring keep heads of public institutions on their toes, especially when they know that the governor can show up at oddest hours. More so, Professor Zulum does not appear to enjoy relaxing in the office, a(subconscious) attitude that has left largely empty, the governor’s red ‘seat of power’.

Isa Gusau is a special adviser and spokesman to Governor Zulum.

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Borno’s governor
  • power
  • Professor Zulum
Previous articleDEFAMATION: JAMB Spokesperson demands N6bn compensation from Human Rights Radio
Next articleICT Hub: PRNigeria, Penlight Centre Train Youths on Graphics Design, Entrepreneurship Skills in Kano
Isa Gusau
Isa Gusau
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Soludo and Radda’s Candid Confessions on Homegrown Terror By Tahir Ahmad

President Muhammadu Buhari

Rat Story Was a Smokescreen to Divert Attention from Buhari’s Health – Garba Shehu Reveals

Nigerian Banks

Nigeria’s Second Chance at a Global Cashless Future By Fatimah Yusuf Usman

Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

Customs, NAFDAC Activate MoU to Fight Substandard Products By Abdullah Maiwada

Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

Rebranding Royalty: Saudi Arabia’s Response to Iran’s Fall By Baba El-Yakubu

NAF Surgical Airstrikes Decimate Bandit Convoy, Eliminate Scores in Kebbi-Zamfara Axis

Fact-Check: Did Bandits Die Mysteriously in Nupe Community After Kidnapping Spree?

Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

Senate Applauds Customs CG Bashir Adeniyi for Global Leadership and Economic Reforms

Kanam Ambush: The Danger of Embarking on an Unauthorized Mission By Zagazola Makama

Google Search Tech Digest

7 Smart Google Search Tips That Will Save You Hours By Shuaib S. Agaka | Tech Digest

Two Killed, Gunman Neutralized as Police Battle Armed Attackers in Anambra

L-R: Representative of the Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Ugochukwu Akagaogu; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh and the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Nura Rimi during the tour of the Hydropolis Free Trade Zone in Amfani, Magama Local Government Area of Niger State on Tuesday

FG Eyes 5,000-Tonne Boost in Fish Production Through PPP Model

Recent Posts

  • Local Government Autonomy Not Negotiable — FG Declares
  • Nigeria’s Future Rests on Smart Defence Management — Badaru to Military Leaders
  • Customs Hands Over 99.2bn Worth of Illicit Pharmaceutical Products to NAFDAC
  • Troops Intercept 3 Gunrunners, Seize Weapons, Cash in Kaduna
  • Troops Bust IPOB/ESN Logistics Network, Arrest Informants in Southeast — DHQ
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Local Government Autonomy Not Negotiable — FG DeclaresNigeria’s Future Rests on Smart Defence Management — Badaru to Military LeadersCustoms Hands Over 99.2bn Worth of Illicit Pharmaceutical Products to NAFDACTroops Intercept 3 Gunrunners, Seize Weapons, Cash in KadunaTroops Bust IPOB/ESN Logistics Network, Arrest Informants in Southeast — DHQSoludo and Radda’s Candid Confessions on Homegrown Terror By Tahir AhmadRat Story Was a Smokescreen to Divert Attention from Buhari’s Health - Garba Shehu RevealsNigeria's Second Chance at a Global Cashless Future By Fatimah Yusuf UsmanAir Chief Rallies New Intelligence Officers for Proactive Security ResponseCustoms, NAFDAC Activate MoU to Fight Substandard Products By Abdullah MaiwadaNELFUND Resumes Monthly Upkeep Payments, Credits Over 3,600 StudentsNNPCL Must Account for ‘Unreconciled’ N210tr in Financial Statements - Senate InsistsPresidency Debunks Misleading Reports on VP Shettima’s Remarks at Book LaunchPolice Arrest, Repatriate Chinese Fugitive Wanted for Tax FraudMurder of Wedding Guests: Plateau Court Remands 20 Suspects
X whatsapp