THE Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle arrived in Nigeria on Friday, May 10, to encourage soldiers wounded in action and champion the Invictus Games.
The Invictus Games is an initiative founded by Prince Harry to support the rehabilitation of wounded and sick service members and veterans.
At the invitation of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who are visiting West Africa for the first time visited the Lightway Academy College which receives support from their Archewell foundation to educate and train young girls affected by conflicts in Nigeria.
The couple, in the course of their visit, will be meeting with wounded soldiers and their families in a bid to boost the morale and well-being of the soldiers as well as those fighting a 14-year-old war against extremists in the country’s northeast.
The director of sports at Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters, Abidemi Marquis, while addressing reporters on the visit said, “This engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for the recovery of our soldiers.”
The military also promoted the Invictus Games as a potential aid in the recovery of thousands of its soldiers who have been fighting the Boko Haram Islamic extremists and their affiliates since the insurgency started in 2009.
“Eighty per cent of our soldiers that have been involved in this recovery programme are getting better (and) their outlook to life is positive.
“The recovery programme has given them an opportunity to improve their personal self-esteem, to improve their mental health and emotional intelligence,” Marquis said.
Harry, who served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner, founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to allow injured veterans and active military personnel to compete in sporting events similar to the Paralympics of which Nigeria was one of the countries that took part in the game last year.
The visitors will also attend basketball and volleyball matches and meet with local non-governmental organisations in Abuja and Lagos.
They will also meet with the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Sunday before leaving the country on Monday.
According to their spokesperson, Charlie Gipson, Meghan will co-host an event on women in leadership with the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
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