The spike in illegal trade and consumption of bushmeat in Nigeria is threatening the existence of wildlife especially lions, according to Wild Africa Funds.

The Group called for immediate protection of wildlife, especially lions which are among the most endangered animals in West Africa.

The Nigeria representative for Wild Africa Fund, Festus Iyaroh said on Thursday at the World Lion Day that protecting wildlife is inevitable.

He said eliminating illegal bushmeat trade and consumption would have a positive impact on the tourism sector.

According to him, there are between 120 to 374 lions in West Africa.

South Africa has approximately 13,000 lions but only around 2,300 are wild, the remaining are in game reserves and in captivity.

Iyaroh said, “Beyond habitat loss, lions have suffered a decline in prey species such as antelope due to the bushmeat trade and are frequently killed in retaliation for preying on livestock.”

In Nigeria, the number of lions has reduced to about 50, which are found in Kainji Lake National Park and the Yankari Games Reserve.

He added, “Additionally, the snares and traps set for bushmeat often injure and kill lions. West African lions might disappear forever if we don’t urgently address the threats they face. If we can protect their habitats more effectively, they could bounce back and boost our tourism.”

The co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wild Africa Fund, Peter Knights, said, “Lions are perhaps the most iconic African animal and have massive cultural significance.

“Their disappearance in West Africa would be tragic and squander an opportunity to foster wildlife tourism that has provided millions of jobs in East and Southern Africa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the house where Adeparusi is currently undergoing the cooking marathon in Ilupeju-Ekiti is being powered by a generator set since she started on Friday.

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Residents of Ilupeju-Ekiti, in Oye Local Government Area, have been experiencing epileptic electricity supply for many months before Adeparusi embarked on her quest.

Adeparusi’s friends and colleagues daily storm the house to watch and give her moral support to break the record unofficially set by another chef, Hilda Baci, a few weeks ago.

Some of her colleagues who are students also sleep over at the location while others come to visit and return after enjoying music and various delicacies she is cooking.

NAN observed that Adeparusi is not looking weary or tired in her disposition, body language and not distracted by some negative comments about her quest by certain social media users.

It was also observed that three heavily armed military officers have been deployed to the house to safeguard her and her supporters from invasion of unwanted persons.

Also, cadets officers were deployed to the entrance of the building to ensure that orderliness is maintained as her cooking marathon progresses.

NAN also observed the presence of some journalists and social media practitioners covering every detail of the marathon.

As at the time of filing in this report, she has been able to cook several meals such as: eba, beans with corn, amala, pounded yam, rice among other delicious meals.

In commemoration of the International Happiness Day on March 20, one of the top integrated marketing communications companies in Nigeria, Aster Integrated Marketing Limited (AsterIML), made a decision to bring smiles to the faces of the residents of the Isheri North community by giving back to the community.

The company, led by Tolulope Medebem, the founder, made provisions to support 500 people in that community, by giving out various food stuff with support from LaCasera and Paintsville.

While speaking to the press on the reason behind the gesture, Medebem, stated that there is need to ease the economic hardship Nigerians are facing at the moment, especially with the timing being during Ramadan.

“The theme for this year’s World Happiness Day is ‘Be Mindful, Be Grateful, Be Kind’. In light of this and being mindful of the state of the nation with everyone on edge; no food, no money and as they say, a hungry man is an angry man. We thought to ourselves as a team, what do we do? How do we give back to alleviate something, for some people?

“Food! People are hungry. People need to feed, so we thought to pull resources and give food stuff to as many as we could. The plan was to give to 500 families and fortunately, the timing falls into Ramadan. This might then make a couple of the days ahead easier for some people.

“This is something we felt we should do and what other time, than World Happiness Day,” she said enthusiastically.

While speaking on her philosophy to life, the marketing guru revealed that she has conditioned her mind to be empathetic.

“My philosophy in life is simple – Be kind, you never know what the other person is going through. We honestly would have loved to do more BUT on our own, with the support of friends as well as LaCasera and Paintsville, this is what we have been able to do today, hopefully, we will look to doing bigger and better,” she said.