Chief Toyin Adeyinka
Chief Toyin Adeyinka is an accomplished civil engineer, businessman and property developer who has been in the business for over four decades. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sparklight Group, a renowned indigenous engineering and property development firm in Nigeria. His journey into the profession started when he was admitted into the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, to study Civil Engineering.
As a student at WPI, he had good performances in his subjects and developed interest in structures and bridge designs, areas which would become fundamental to his future profession. He subsequently studied for a Master’s degree at the Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts where he advanced his knowledge of engineering by specialising in structure and construction management. He started his professional career with Walter J. Hickey Associates in the US as a bridge engineer, and his impressive performance earned him a role in the classic design lay-out for the infrastructure development of a new industrial town in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
On his return to Nigeria in the early 1980s, Chief Adeyinka joined Julius Berger, a Nigerian based German construction company. He was one of the early few Nigerian engineers who became quite knowledgeable in German engineering technology especially in the areas of the design of structures, calculations, and bridge work. A few of his works reflecting these skills include some bridges in Lagos. He left Julius Berger to join the Nigerian Railway Corporation as a Senior Bridge Engineer, and later rose to become the Head of the Bridge Section of the national corporation.
In this position, he became one of the first Nigerian engineers to deliver a bridge project without assistance from expatriates when he spearheaded the reconstruction of a pedestrian bridge that had collapsed on the Abeokuta railway track. He was also involved in the development of the design that raised the flooded rail tracks in Yamaltu Local Government Area of Gombe State, and the Lagos State Mass Drainage Channelisation Programme. These tasks offered him enormous opportunities to develop leadership and management capacities, and to be extensively involved in the inspection of projects and training of newly qualified engineers.
Having acquired, as it were, a well-rounded professional and business orientation over the years, it was not long before the entrepreneurial side of Chief Adeyinka surged forth. He founded Sparklight Engineering Company Limited in 1986 in Lagos. He leveraged on the relationships he had built while at the Nigerian Railways, not only to bid for and win contracts for his firm, but also to execute such contracts with great efficiency and to the satisfaction of his clients. One success begat the next, and so he continued from one project to the other, serving individuals and various corporate and government organisations in various parts of the country.
Chief Adeyinka’s charisma magnetism has helped him to forge admirable professional relationships that have attracted some of the best professionals to the Sparklight Group. Side by side with developing sound human capital is a conscious effort to institute a robust work ethic among his staff in the areas of accountability and teamwork. His hands-on approach to work enabled him to instill competence and efficiency in his staff through regular evaluation, supervision, and robust reward system.