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Mushin Makeover -the aftermath
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Home  Mushin Makeover Mushin Makeover: History is made
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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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OMG i missed cos i was writing my final yrs exam.God bless
