Visible Impact

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,