Age
14
Country of Residence
Nigeria
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
My Personal Motivation My motivation for starting Paws and Future Nigeria came from seeing how animals suffer when they are sick and do not receive proper care on time. I lost my dog after it became weak and stopped eating, and this made me realise how important it is to understand the signs of illness early. I also heard about a family friend who lost pigs worth over ₦2 million. These experiences made me want to help people learn how to care for their animals and prevent avoidable suffering and deaths.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
How I Encourage Others I encourage others by helping them understand that animals also need care, attention, and protection. I share why proper feeding, clean water, and early veterinary attention are important. I also want to use school visits, educational leaflets, and videos to help people learn simple ways to care for animals. Through Paws and Future Nigeria, I hope to encourage young people to take animal welfare seriously and understand that even small actions can make a difference. I believe that when people gain knowledge, they can make better decisions and help reduce animal suffering.
How many people are on your team?
1
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
How Has It Impacted, and What Will It Look Like in the Future? Paws and Future Nigeria is still growing, but I have conducted a survey with 30 respondents to understand people's experiences and knowledge of animal care. This is helping me learn more about the problem I want to solve. In the future, I hope to organise school visits, share educational leaflets, and create awareness videos about animal health and welfare. I want to reach more children, farmers, and animal owners so they can recognise signs of illness and seek veterinary help early.
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
A youth lead initiative that focuses on providing animal health awareness and proper veterinary care and importance of seeking veterinary help early when animal cells sick.
Project title
Paws and Future Nigeria
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
What Problem Am I Solving and Why Does It Matter? Paws and Future Nigeria aims to address animal suffering caused by poor care, malnutrition, neglect, and late recognition of illnesses. Some animal owners may not know the warning signs of sickness or when to seek veterinary help. This problem matters because animals depend on humans for their care and cannot explain when they are in pain. When people have the right knowledge, they can make better decisions, seek help earlier, and give their animals a better chance of living healthy lives.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
My What's Next Plan My next plan is to develop Paws and Future Nigeria by turning what I have learned from my survey into simple educational materials. I want to create animal-care leaflets and videos that explain basic animal welfare and signs of illness. I also hope to visit schools, speak with students, and build partnerships with veterinarians, animal-welfare organisations, farmers, and community leaders. Since I am currently working alone, I want to find other young people who share my interest and are willing to help the project reach more communities.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What Makes My Project Different from Other Similar Projects? What makes Paws and Future Nigeria special to me is that it focuses on helping people recognise the early signs of animal illness and understand when to seek veterinary help. I want to make animal-care information simple enough for children and ordinary community members to understand and use. I also hope to use school visits, leaflets, and videos to reach people who may not have easy access to animal-health education. My goal is not only to encourage people to love animals but also to help them take practical steps to protect them.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
How I Am Solving the Problem Through Paws and Future Nigeria, I want to help reduce animal suffering caused by sickness, neglect, malnutrition, and lack of knowledge about proper animal care. I have conducted a survey to understand people's knowledge and experiences with animal health. My next steps are to educate children and community members through school visits, simple educational leaflets, and awareness videos. I also want to encourage people to recognise signs of illness early and seek help from veterinarians instead of waiting until the animal becomes seriously sick.
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Support and Partnerships I hope to connect with qualified veterinarians, animal-health professionals, farmers, schools, and animal welfare organizations that can provide guidance, practical knowledge and support as the project grows. I will begin on a small scale in my community and educate gropes of farmer, young people, and animal owners. I will start with people I can reach though my school, family, friend, community and the gradually expand as I gain more experience and support.
