TRIANGLE NIGERIA STORY: Three Friends Give Motherless Babies the Gift of Cinema

By Mike Awoyinfa

Monday October 2, was supposed to be a date of rest for me and for millions of Nigerians as it had been declared a public holiday to mark our 63^rd Independence Anniversary which fell on Sunday October 1.  Then came this urgent call two days earlier from my son, Kehinde Awoyinfa, informing me that TRIANGLE NIGERIA, a company he co-founded with two friends, Olayinka Odeyaji and Kingsley Duru,inema who together constitute TRIANGLE NIGERIA would be marking their fifth anniversary of coming into business by giving out a N25 million ultramodern cinema to the Lagos State Motherless Babies Home located on a beautiful landscape located on 1, Kenneth Agbakuru Street, Lekki, Lagos.

I was surprised, yet filled with pride.  That the young company formed five years ago by three friends (who met at a previous company, worked there for some years and decided to obey the call of entrepreneurial independence to start on their own) had decided to follow the noble path of giving to society through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  They had embarked on CSR in spite of the fact that the country is in an economic dire strait and money is scarce, yet they jointly agreed to donate their skills and their money towards giving a state-of-the-art, fully furnished movie theatre to children without mothers, children orphaned by circumstances outside their control.

Talking of state of the art and futuristic technology, come to the office of TRIANGLE NIGERIA and you will be introduced to the world of a youthful company building smart homes, smart offices, smart cities and smart Nigeria.  In an article titled, “Committed to building a smart Nigeria,” a journalist capture this impression: “There recently, I tasted a futurist moment.  It was a piece of mirror in the toilet.  While brushing your teeth, you can transform the mirror to give you a sort of mirror, mirror on the wall magic.  From the screen, you can make phone calls or watch YouTube or Netflix, you can play music and control your surroundings.  I also experienced the luxury of a home cinema, in immersive three-D reality and stereo surround sound you could ever get inside the home.”

Each time I drive pass the Mike Adenuga Centre at Alliance Francaise, Lagos which is their flagship project, I feel so proud as one of the Grandfathers of TRIANGLE NIGERIA.  It comprises an auditorium, a cinema and a class for learning French.  TRIANGLE handled everything: décor, fittings, technology.  They have also handled a number of residential project which includes one the tallest residential buildings in Nigeria located on No. 4 Bourdillon where everything is automated in the flats, the luxury homes at Eko Atlantic and the most innovative workplace in Nigeria, Sparkle.

At the Motherless Babies home to witness the handing over of the movie theatre were the Lagos State Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mr. Mobolaji Ogunlende, Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance, Akintunde Oyebode, Mrs. Rebecca Aikhomu and Air Vice Marshall Anthony Okpere both members of Lions Club who founded the home, hence it has a new additional name of Lions Village.

Olayinka Odejayi, the co-founder of TRIANGLE said: “We wanted to build a company that was not just about bottom line but about the environment, about people and making profit.  But the profit is not the main thing.  We decided to do for the motherless babies what we do for our normal clients.  We want the kids to be able to entertain themselves and also learn through online materials.  The fact that they are not in regular homes should not mean they should be deprived access to what regular kids enjoy.”

Akintunde Oyebode, Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance said: “I am a TRIANGLE client which is primarily why I am here.  But I am not surprised at their social consciousness.  They are just demonstrating they are all from a good stock.  Kehinde’s dad Mike Awoyinfa is well known to me.  I read his columns.  Yinka’s mum taught me social studies in secondary school.  So I have invested interest in their growth.  Very few companies understand the importance of CSR, especially when they are starting out.  And it’s not a culture you can build 20 years down the line.  So it is incredible to see that this young company, five years old, with very young staff, do excellent work, are also interested in contributing to society.”

Ike Chioke, GMD, Afrivent says: “I met Kehinde Awoyinfa more than 5 years ago.  I admire your professionalism and the quality work you have done over the years.  I was quite taken aback when I heard about this event.  It’s the sort of thing we need in Nigeria today because the difficulties of the economy shows that those at the bottom of the pyramid have absolutely no choice.  What you have done is opening the window for people in darkness which will lead them to become transformed people in the years ahead.”

In his closing remark, Kehinde Awoyinfa said: “In the world we live today, technology can do a lot of things.  But we really think the best technology is connecting people.  And there is no better way to connect people than to give, than to share.  Today, when you talk technology, you are talking about Instagram, you are talking about Facebook.  What are they doing?  They are connecting people.  They are bringing people together.  So this event means so much to us.  This project is not a TRIANGLE project.  This project is the seed that you’ve placed in every single one of us.  Every single one of you has put something in us that generated this.  This is your project.  It’s not about any of us.  From the depth of our hearts, we are eternally grateful.  We didn’t do this for money, we didn’t do this for publicity.  We wanted to give from the depth of our hearts. There is a lot to be done.  And we are ready in several capacities.  We might not have money but we are ready.  Please, continue to pray for us.”