Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, Director of Sports at Defence Headquarters (DHQ), announced the details on Thursday.
By Nydra Ayibapreye
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, are scheduled to arrive in Nigeria on Friday for a private visit lasting three days. Their visit comes at the invitation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, to engage with injured soldiers.
Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, Director of Sports at Defence Headquarters (DHQ), announced the details on Thursday. During their stay from May 10th to May 13th, 2024, Prince Harry, the founder of Invictus Games, will spend time interacting with wounded soldiers and their families, aiming to support their recovery efforts.
“We realised that 80% of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery programme, they are getting better. Their outlook to life is positive,” AVM Marquis said.
He added that the visit will help their injured troops in their recovery “to improve their personal self-esteem to improve their mental health. Their emotional intelligence has been improved and also their families seeing them, as they used to be breadwinners who are capable of continuing living. So this engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for the recovery for our soldiers.”
“So, to be specific, now, they will be arriving here tomorrow (Friday) 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,” AVM Marquis added.
After a brief rest at the hotel, the couple plans to visit the Chief of Defence Staff by noon on Friday. The Director further mentioned that Prince Harry and his wife will also visit Wuse Light Academy, a school backed by their non-governmental organization, before meeting with Nigeria’s security chief. Following these engagements, they will journey to Kaduna State to visit the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, where wounded soldiers are undergoing medical treatment and recovery.
“On Saturday, we’ll be having like an exhibition of novelty match. 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 01:00 pm. 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 Director said.
AVM Marquis announced that on Sunday, the couple will extend a courtesy visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State. Additionally, they will visit a basketball court at a school supported by their NGO in Lagos, where a basketball exhibition match will take place.
A reception is scheduled to honor the couple later that day before they return to Abuja in readiness for their departure from the country on Monday.
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