When American author Michael Crichton wrote the novel, Jurassic Park, which was about dinosaurs, it became an instant bestseller because dinosaurs which are now extinct are fascinating to humans. So, if you run into him, just call him ‘Dinosaur Man.’
You are said to be establishing a dinosaur park.
Yes. Yes. The dinosaur theme park is one of the innovations of the First Empire Group which I represent. It’s the first animatronic theme park in Africa. It’s going to be situated in Lagos. It’s called the Lekki Dinosaur Park. There will be about thirty-two different dinosaurs in it and they’ll be as they were over a thousand years ago. They move, talk, run, and these are dinosaurs that existed in Nigeria and Africa. And so what we’re trying to do is to give Nigerians a feel of what it was like in Nigeria in 1,000 B.C. And to also create a tourism and leisure atmosphere where families can bond, couples can bond, old and young can celebrate and enjoy themselves in an atmosphere that’s very natural and serene and clean. We intend to launch this project officially before the end of the year. And it also seeks to bring in foreigners to also come and have a feel of this theme park. We already have, from our business analyses, intending visitors from the west, east and even South Africa coming to Nigeria just because of this theme park. We’ve established a very well-thought-out layout plan. We’re working in line with international best practices. On our team, we’ve sound tourism professionals who’re even part of the World Disney Park in Orlando. And so internally, we’ve very good hands. Myself, Dimeji Oganla, Babatunde Odumuyiwa, Sade Afilaka. We’re a combination of different expertise, as well as our international consultants. And so this is one of our projects that we’re very happy about, we can’t wait for it to start, we’re gonna hold with the address and other things for now so that we keep Nigerians in suspense, but watch out, the First Empire Group is here to stay.
How many years has this park been in the making?
We’ve been on it for about six years. We’ve had visits to Australia, United States, Dubai and twice even to Kenya, trying to learn from other people’s mistakes and what they’ve done right. Because this is not only a theme park for dinosaurs alone. It’s gonna be a theme park and a resort. We’re also gonna be launching the first cruise line in Nigeria. It’s called the Empire Cruise. It’s gonna be a cruise line that’ll take Nigerians from the Atlantic into the open sea with a live band on board, swimming pool, a club and so on. As much as we, none of us is up to fifty years old, but we’re a combination of different experiences and that’s exactly what we’re bringing to the table. You know, exposure, is a school on its own. It’s a university on its own. My humble self, Oganla, Odumuyiwa, Afilaka, we’ve travelled far and wide, we’ve experienced different atmospheres, you know, and we’re bring all these to the table, not because we’re businessmen or women, but because we believe that Nigerians deserve a better life. They deserve quality in lifestyle. And what we’re doing is to create that opportunity where Nigerians can enjoy themselves and also have what others in developed countries are enjoying.
How much is it costing you?
Well, this is a project that’s gonna that … as much as I shouldn’t … or that I wouldn’t want to tell you the figures, you know, of the cost of the project, but it’s a project that’s costing us about 62 million US dollars. I’ve been drinking garri in order to make it a reality, because you know what banks are with their interest rates, but we’re in good stead, and hopefully, within the first five years, we probably wouldn’t drink garri for too long.
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