What used to make Nigeria an exceptional place to live in is no more, according to American conservationists, Liza Gatsby and Peter Jenkins who have spent 36 years living in the country and are now revisiting the pristine Southern terrain that made them permanent residents back in 1988.

Over three decades ago, the pair had been touring Africa in search of an attraction. They only needed 10-day transit visas passing through Nigeria but the love for keeping nature intact and endangered drill monkeys soon made Calabar, the capital of Cross River state a place they will never leave.

Well, much has changed since their expat journey started in the eighties. They have been sharing it all with the explorer David Nkwa, whose YouTube channel tries to mirror unique African stories as much as possible.

An intimate discussion with the pair captured the female tourist Gatsby as the first one talking about the local hospitality they experienced.

I’ll tell you what I like about Nigerians. Okay, that’s what makes Nigeria different from every other country in Africa. They would say ‘hey! Oyinbo, come in na, sit down, make we talk. Make I go buy you drink.’ That is the difference between Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

There were a lot of interesting opportunities in areas of science and wildlife conservation that we became involved in, and we’re still here 36 years later, says Gatsby about their early beginnings.

Peter Jenkins, the more reserved of the two also added that they arrived with a 10-day transit visa, but found themselves lingering longer than expected. When the tourists newly arrived in the country, it only had a population of 65 million. Currently, Nigeria is three times the size they met around 1988.

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The next year, they interacted with the Cross River locals, learned about their surroundings and subsequently started a wildlife sanctuary after receiving the necessary funding.

Gatsby who led most of the narration, said: We founded a nonprofit organisation called Pandrillus that ranches monkey drills in Bano and Calabar in Cross River State. I don’t think that one species is more important than another, just like I don’t think that human beings are more important than drills or elephants are more important than whales.

A drill’s scientific name is Mandrillus leucophaeus. This mammal species usually morphs into large short-tailed monkeys found both in southeastern Nigeria to western Cameroon and on Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea.

Due to their being hunted and the misfortune of deforestation, the drill tribe is largely considered endangered. This call from nature for assistance motivated the Americans to accept their next purpose of becoming part of Nigeria to help solve a problem.

In the eighties, living in Nigeria wasn’t as arduous as it tends to be right now in the year 2024. Steep energy costs continue to make life difficult for the citizens with no end in sight even with the Dangote Refinery now producing premium motor spirit that most vehicles use.

Liza Gatsby reminisces about being comfortable and finding the country quite habitable. It was the best-value country on this continent by far. The food was cheap, the road was perfect. There was no gallop deeper than a bottle cap.

What seems to have changed? According to her, it is the poor appreciation of heritage by the people who own it. They no longer pay attention to learning the healing effects of herbs and sheepishly rely on outside innovation from China. These factors altogether point to a lost country needing introspection to find its true path.

Nigerians, says Ms Gatsby, don’t have pride in Nigeria’s natural heritage. I think that’s a big issue because that’s what it takes to try to make a difference. People don’t take pride in their cultural identity, language, traditional herbs, and healing.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.