Brooms are for cleaning.....

I don’t want the rain to beat me, I need an umbrella. This place is dirty, I need a broom. Are you still confused? The rest of this article will help you understand. I want to eat good corn, I want to be under an umbrella when the rain is falling, I want to write my legacy with a good pen, I have hope, I want to ride on horses, and I want this whole country swept with a broom.

Matthew 13:12, For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  So I say who ever has given to his people shall be given votes, but he who hath not shall have his little votes taken away from him.

Let us use BRF as our case study.  For the benefit of my international readers in Canada, Singapore, UK and USA, Babatunde Raji Fashola(BRF)  is the Governor of Lagos State in Nigeria. He assumed office in 2007 and since then the state has undergone tremendous development. I will agree with what he said at the “WHICH WAY NIGERIA” conference in the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, Scotland “The truth is that some successes are already being recorded, but many a people have been overwhelmed by living with the problems such that their despair has turned to cynism that blurs their capacity to appreciate that some progress is being made”

We are not where we want to be in Lagos, but we are certainly not where we were. The introduction of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) has tackled transportation making it easier and gainfully employed over 1,200 operators. Waste management has made Lagos clean, awarded as cleanest state in 2009 and created employment opportunities. The economy has improved with the development attraction of strong investments and hotels among other achievements I cannot detail here.

The Roseto Mystery from Malcom Gladwell’s book the Outliers summaries that the people died of old age only. They did not die young from illnesses or heart attacks; their health was positively impacted because of their commitment to community. As Kevin Harney put it they shared meals together, sat on porches in the evenings, talked and laughed.  They greeted each other warmly as they met in the streets.  The people in the town of Roseto seemed to really love each other, care for each other, and function as a big family.

Let us make Lagos like Roseto. Pick up a broom today and let BRF continue the good works in Lagos State. Vote Babatunde Raji Fashola for Governor 2011.

Weyinmi Egbe weyinmi@ymail.com