Every community has a creation story. Ours is simpler than most: a group of friends, a shared frustration with superficial social life, and a conversation about what genuine friendship should look like. On 8 February 2021, that conversation became a group. The group was called Like Minds, and it met for the first time with no grand agenda — just people of similar values choosing to make time for each other.
That was it. That was the beginning.
The idea behind the group
The founding members of Like Minds shared a common observation: in a modern, busy, professionally driven city like Abuja, it is surprisingly hard to build real friendships. Acquaintances are easy to accumulate. Connections made at work events, at weddings, through social media — these are everywhere. But friendships of depth and durability, the kind where you can be fully yourself and know that the person across from you actually knows you? Those are rare.
The inspiration behind setting up the group was simple: create an atmosphere where friends and people of like minds could come together and promote genuine friendship. Not networking. Not business contacts. Not online connections. Just real people, in a real room, making time to actually know one another.
The early days
The first gatherings were informal. Members came together to talk, to laugh, to share food and share stories. There was no elaborate programme, no membership fees, no committees. The structure grew organically, shaped by what members found valuable and what brought them back. And they did come back — which is itself the most meaningful metric a community can have.
Word spread, carefully and selectively. Like Minds was not looking for scale in those early months; it was looking for the right people. People who valued authenticity. People who showed up. People who understood that being part of something requires giving of yourself, not just taking what is on offer.
From “Like Minds” to “Matured Like Minds”
Three months after founding, on 1 May 2021, the group underwent its first major evolution: a name change. Like Minds became Matured Like Minds. The rebranding was accompanied by a restrategising and reorganisation of the group — a formal articulation of its mission, vision and aims, and a commitment to building something lasting rather than something casual.
The word “Matured” was deliberate. Not a reference to age, but to the quality of connection being sought: relationships that had depth, that had been earned, that would endure. The kind that, as the vision statement puts it, “enrich their lives and contribute positively to society.”
What five years of growth looks like
From that first gathering in February 2021, MLM has grown into a vibrant community whose reach now extends well beyond its own membership. Its anniversary celebrations — each one a deliberate act of giving back — have brought food and gifts to orphaned children, wheelchairs to a hospital, Christmas joy to a displaced community, and 100 school desks to a school inside an IDP camp.
None of that could have been predicted on 8 February 2021. But all of it flows naturally from the founding idea: that people of like minds, coming together with genuine intent, can build something that matters.
- February 2021Like Minds is founded in Abuja.
- May 2021Renamed to Matured Like Minds; mission and aims formalised.
- February 20221st Anniversary — visit to Destined Children’s Orphanage Home, Kado Estate.
- February 20232nd Anniversary — donations to Treasure Home Orphanage, Karu.
- February 20243rd Anniversary — wheelchairs for Karshi General Hospital.
- December 2024Christmas party for children at Durumi IDP Camp.
- 20265th Anniversary — 100 desks for Betharbel All Inclusive Academy.
“A few friends created a space where people of like minds could come together and promote genuine friendship.”
The founding idea, February 2021
The seat is still warm
Matured Like Minds began because a few people believed that genuine friendship was worth pursuing deliberately. Five years later, that belief has produced a community with a proven track record of caring for each other and for the world around them.
The table is larger now. But there is always room for one more. If the story of MLM resonates with you — if you are looking for the kind of connection that this community was built to provide — we would love to hear from you.
