My first Visit to Ikoyi axis in Lagos State, Nigeria

In 1986, my good friend, Murphy Gbadamosi and I, went to Hawksworth Road in Ikoyi to buy JAMB form. As soon as we boarded a taxi at Obalende and headed towards the Federal Secretariat at Alagbon axis, I was amazed at what I saw.

 The roads were clean and well tarred. The houses were beautiful and cute. The fences were not too tall but skilfully fabricated and painted. Their lawns were auspiciously manicured. Their cars were sleek and exotic and their manners of dressing were gorgeous and appealing.

Ikoyi was not overcrowded and noisy like Agege where I came from – even the breeze blowing there was like ‘an answered prayer.’ The joy beaming on the faces of the people was extraordinary if compared with the ghetto’s – and their smiles were contagious. The elegance of their gaits was welcoming and the simplicity of their lifestyle was worth emulating.

Wow! I loved every detail of my findings. “Who are the people living here?” I asked.  I discovered they were neither monsters (because they did not have more heads or limbs than those in my neighbourhood) nor were they angels (because they had no wings); they were purely human-beings like those I’d met every day of my life.

Then, why were they so different from those in my neighbourhood? I asked again.  They belonged to the power bloc; the movers and shakers, people of timber and calibre, crème-de-la-crème of the society, the civilised and educated, the elites and affluent, and probably the richest and influencers of Nigerian commerce and industry.

Then, I asked myself the following questions:

·  Why are we not living in a place like this?

I wanted to live in a place like Ikoyi.

·  What can I do to reside in a place like this?

I was willing to pay the expected price.

·  What is the secret of these people living here?

I wish to be among them.

·  Are there any special qualifications to reside in a community like this?

I cannot afford to leave anything to chance.

Over time, I discovered a lot about the exotic people of the highbrow. I knew so much about their glamorous lifestyles. I coveted their associations, desired their companies and after several years of learning, working, serving, watching and growing, I found several other areas that ranked in the class of Ikoyi and met arrays of men and women in the category of Ikoyi residents and I have discovered a simple fact that I have been living with all my life and everywhere I have gone – which is;

From Oregun to Oregon … from Isolo to Oslo … whether in Banjul or Berlin,

Ecuador or Equatorial Guinea, Mushin or Mississippi … the fact remains the same: No community developed on its own; the people with DEVELOPED MIND living in a community are the ones that add value to their communities.

How? If people with ghetto mind are relocated to a highbrow area without proper orientations, they will, within a twinkle of an eye, convert the once beautiful environment to a dirty slum - and if the people with proper orientations living in a highbrow area are relocated to a slum, they will within a short time renovate the once dirty environment into a prim and proper, serene, exotic and expensive estate.

Why? Their mind-sets – and that's the more reason why some areas are cities and others are towns or villages … and countries are rated as developed, developing and under-developed – not because of the availability or non-availability of natural endowments but because they have different priorities.

Is your community or country developed? THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR COMMUNITY BEGINS WITH YOU … In this book, you will discover how nobodies became somebodies and it will move you from nowhere to somewhere.