My parents took us from Birmingham to Nigeria for 6 years as children.  I was in school there.  Whilst living in Nigeria in the city of Owerri in the southeast, my father would often take us to the local zoo on the weekends.  The zoo was called Nekede Zoo.  

Constant exposure to the animals at the zoo and the stories that my parents and their friends, and grandparents, told about their various chance encounters with wildlife, strengthened and grew my passion for wildlife.  My parents were born mid 40s, and of course, my grand parents were before them, and you can imagine back then, Nigeria’s population was much smaller with more wild places, hence more encounters between humans and even noteworthy wildlife - it wasn’t like today back then.

As an adult, my love for wildlife gave me an urge to do something for wildlife.  I was passionate about lions in particular, and I wasn’t satisfied by the work being done for lions and other iconic species in Nigeria, hence I started WACN.

I approached the government proposing Kainji Lake National Park due to its lion population.  Unfortunately, the situation at Kainji is complicated, but we are determined to turn the  Kainji into a truly impressive park, and we need a lot of help to do this.  Turning around the Kainji National Park for the better requires huge amounts of capital, and we are actively seeking partners that will be able to support us in that regard.