By Lucy Adautin
Today, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, will land Nigeria on a visit.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s journey to Nigeria comes as a result of an invitation extended by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa.
Abidemi Marquis, the Director of Sports at the Defence Headquarters, disclosed that Prince Harry, renowned for founding the Invictus Games, will spend three days in Nigeria.
During their stay, the royal couple is scheduled to engage with wounded soldiers and their families, fostering meaningful interactions and support.
The royal visit, scheduled from May 10 to May 13, 2024, holds significant promise in aiding the recovery efforts of wounded soldiers.
This initiative follows Nigeria’s inaugural participation at Prince Harry’s Invictus Games held in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2023.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are slated to visit wounded soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State, offering support and encouragement directly to those in need.
As part of the itinerary, a special novelty match between the CDS team and the Duke’s team will take place at the Armed Forces Officers’ Mess on Saturday, fostering camaraderie and solidarity.
Reflecting on the impact of such engagements, Abidemi Marquis remarked, “Because we realized that 80% of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery program, 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.
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 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 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.
