For Zainab James, a U.S. Army officer, the search for her roots is not just about finding a man—it’s about finding the missing piece of her identity.
Born in 1994 in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jamaican mother, the now 31-year-old says she grew up without knowing her father. All she has ever known about him is that he is Nigerian, possibly named Lateef Quadri, and that he chose her name before disappearing from her life.
“My mother got pregnant with me in 1993 while living in Brooklyn,” Zainab shared in a heartfelt Facebook post on Sunday, August 10, 2025. “They didn’t have a long-term relationship. No one in my family ever met him. All I know is he was Nigerian, possibly named Lateef Quadri or something like that. He wasn’t at my birth, but he did choose my name.”
Her mother, Claudine James, was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1969, and later moved to the U.S., where she worked in a Brooklyn jewelry store. There, she became friends with a Nigerian woman—Zainab’s aunt—who was the sister of the man who fathered her child.
Sadly, Claudine passed away years ago, leaving Zainab with only fragmented memories and a handful of photographs—one of which shows her mother alongside several male friends at the jewelry store. Zainab believes one of them might be her father.
Now, more than three decades later, she is reaching out to Nigerians at home and abroad for help.
“This is a real shot in the dark, but why not?” she wrote. “If anyone knows a man named Lateef Quadri or his relatives—maybe from Brooklyn in the early ’90s—please reach out. I’m looking for my father or any family I might have in Nigeria.”
Her appeal is beginning to gain traction online, as people share her story across Facebook, WhatsApp, and other platforms, hoping it will reach someone who knows the mystery man.
For Zainab, the search is not just about meeting her father—it’s about knowing where she truly comes from.
“I’ve worn this uniform to serve my country,” she said in a follow-up message. “But part of my heart belongs to a country I’ve never known—Nigeria. I just want to connect with my family there.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to come forward and help bring closure to a 31-year-long mystery.
