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MUSHIN MAKEOVER: HISTORY IS MADE!
It was probably the most anticipated nation building project of 2009.
It started as a simple God idea that came to Fela Durotoye sometime in October. It was at a Change Summit in Mushin. "God told me that MUSHIN is the place for Making Unique Stars and Heroes In Nigeria", said Fela Durotoye, the initiator of the project. He said at the meeting, he shared the idea of painting houses in the area, and "the whole place caught fire". The rest, as they say, is history.
But the real history was made on December 12, 2009. That Saturday,
thousands of people from within and around Lagos, Nigeria and the
Diaspora trooped out to Mushin Local Government in Lagos State for the
Mushin Makeover Project.
That morning, as thousands of participants were getting ready for an
arduos task, the heavens opened to signal its approval for the event
with a downpour that lasted for a little over forty minutes.
No one was deterred by the downpour. Not even Her Excellency, the First
Lady of Lagos State, Mrs Abimbola Fashola who was on hand earlier than
others to flag off the first-of-its-kind nation building project that
is sure to spin off several others in weeks and months to come.
In total, 291 houses were successfully painted within the eight hours
allotted time. Road side curbs on Agege Motor Road, roundabouts,
street pillars and walls were also not spared by the paint brushes of
the excited voulnteers numbering over two thousand.
Just like most of the participants, the visionary, Fela Durotoye could
not hide his joy. "This is the day when we all decide to take
collective responsibility for our nation, when our little individual
efforts make significant collective impact".
He was speaking the mind of the participants, including the several
A-list celebrities that took part in the event. From Segun Arinze,
Banky W, to Frank Edoho; from Infinity to TY Bello; Foluke Daramola to
Tara Fela-Durotoye; the feeling was the same as they painted the street
of Mushin, their voices were united; "This is the first time this kind
of thing is happening in my country and I am happy to be a part of it".
The landords and residents of Mushin, who were the beneficiaries, had
astounding words to share. Their excitement and enthusiasm was palpable
as they could not believe that their houses were being painted at no
cost to them.
Many of them expressed joy over the initiative, describing it as the
first time they are witnessing such. One of the landlords, Alhaji
Olayiwola of 62, Ogunmokun Road described it as a very laudable
project. According to him, “I have lived in Mushin for more than 50
years and this has never happened before and infact as far as I know,
it has not happened anywhere in Nigeria”.
Rashidat Modupe is a student who lives at 12, Ladipo Street. She said,
“This is so cool. Our old house is looking new with fresh green
painting. I stayed home all day to support the painters, I even cooked
for them. I don’t know why our house was chosen on this street, we did
not pay anybody. We got our house painted free of charge”.
A Civil servant, who simply identified himself as Roy, said “this is a
wow initiative”. Roy who lives at 39, Ladipo Street, Mushin said “In
the History of Nigeria, this has never happened before. I am elated, I
am glad!”
All the Project Sponsors, (Stanbic IBTC Bank, Dulux Paints, Berger
Paints, UBA Foundation, Wema Bank) and partners (Business Day,
Superscreen, House of Tara, Magic Eye Photography, DMT Mobile Toilet)
were all satisfied with the impact of the project.
And so, at about 8pm that Saturday, when Kelvin, one of the volunteers
set out to his home in Festac Town, he gave his certificate of
participation another look of admiration and then said out loud; "I
don't know when this kind of thing will happen again, but I am glad I
was a part of this one".
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