The couple will visit wounded soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State, in a move expected to help them in their recovery efforts.
By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, will on Friday, May 10, 2024, arrive in Nigeria to honour the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.
This was disclosed by the Director of Sports, Defence Headquarters, Abidemi Marquis.
He said Harry, who is the founder of Invictus Games, would spend three days, May 10-13, 2024, in Nigeria and would interact with wounded soldiers and their families.
This follows Nigeria’s debut appearance at Harry’s 2023 Invictus Games which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Nigeria is also looking forward to hosting the Games, the Sports Director added.
The couple will visit wounded soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State, in a move expected to help them in their recovery efforts.
Marquis explained 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.”
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.”
He added that after the hospital visit, a novelty match will be played between the CDS team and the Duke team at the armed forces Officers’ Mess on Saturday.
“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.
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.