Prince Harry, Meghan to arrive Nigeria Friday
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle will visit Nigeria on Friday, May 10, 2024.
The gracious invitation to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was extended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, leading to their eagerly anticipated visit to the vibrant nation.
Abidemi Marquis, the Director of Sports at Defence Headquarters, revealed that Prince Harry, renowned for founding the Invictus Games, will be dedicating three days to engaging with wounded soldiers and their families in Nigeria.
Their visit, scheduled from May 10th to May 13th, holds the promise of offering support and encouragement to the brave soldiers on their journey to recovery.
This visit follows Nigeria’s successful debut at the 2023 Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Germany, further deepening the bond between the country and the inspiring initiative.
During their time in Nigeria, the royal couple is set to spend meaningful moments with wounded soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State, imparting hope and resilience through their visit.
Additionally, a friendly and spirited novelty match is planned between the CDS team and the Duke’s team at the esteemed armed forces Officers’ Mess on Saturday, adding a touch of sportsmanship and camaraderie to the royal visit.
Marquis said, “Because we realised that 80% of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery programme, they are getting better. Their outlook on life is positive.
“The recovery programme has given them (wounded soldiers) an opportunity to improve their self-esteem, to improve their mental health, their emotional intelligence has been improved and also their families. This engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for a recovery for our soldiers.”
He added that Nigeria is also looking forward to hosting an Invictus game hence, the reason for the visit.
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Marquis emphasised the need to build a state-of-the-art structure for the management of the wounded and injured soldiers, “particularly the post-traumatic syndrome and the post-traumatic stress syndrome that are manifesting due to our engagement in the counter-insurgency operation.”
Harry and his wife, Meghan, will visit Kaduna and Lagos states where they would also interact with the Governors Uba Sani and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, respectively.
“So, to be specific, now, they will be arriving here tomorrow and they will be received and the reception will be a quiet reception because they will be traveling 14 hours to get to this place. They will be taken to the hotel,” Marquis stated.
The sports director at the DHQ said the couple, after resting at the hotel, would return to visit the Chief of Defence Staff by noon tomorrow.
The director added that the couple “have their own NGO they are supporting somewhere in Wuse Light Academy. They are going to visit that place.
“They will be proceeding to Kaduna to visit the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital. You know, that is where our wounded and injured soldiers are kept for their medical recovery. He will be going there.
“On Saturday, we’ll be having something like an exhibition of novelty matches. The CDS team and the Duke team will be having a volleyball match at armed forces officers’ mess in the morning. And this is just to engage with the wounded and injured soldiers. It’s a sitting volleyball match coming in the morning.”
“So after that, we have a programme for them by 1 p.m. A reception, where they will be interacting with families of wounded and injured soldiers and families of soldiers and officers killed in action and service members generally. The programme will start at 01:00 p.m. On Saturday thereafter, they will go back to the hotel to rest.
“So on Sunday, we have a programme in Lagos. They will pay a courtesy call to the governor of Lagos State, and they also have an NGO. They are supporting Lagos over time, and we are going there. They built a basketball court for the school in Lagos. So they will be going there also. And there will be a basketball exhibition Match, 20 minutes, 30 minutes will be played.
“From there, they proceed to the governor’s place. After that, there is a reception also for them in Lagos. And when we finish that, we come back to Abuja, and they’ll be leaving Nigeria on Monday morning,” the statement added.
