9th May, 2024
By Sumaila Ogbaje
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan will arrive Nigeria on Friday for a 3-day private visit on the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.
The Director of Sports and Chairman of the organising Committee of the visit, AVM Abidemi Marquis, made this known while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.
While providing details of the visit, Marquis said that Prince Harry, who founded the Invictus Game, would along with his wife, visit wounded soldiers at Army Reference Hospital Kaduna on Saturday.
He said the Duke of Sussex would also interact with wounded soldiers and their families in Abuja as well as witness a novelty volleyball match during the visit.
He added that the couple would visit Lagos on Sunday where they are supporting an NGO, before departing Nigeria on Monday.
According to him, the visit scheduled from May 10 to 13, will help wounded soldiers in their recovery efforts.
“We realised that 80 per cent of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery programme and they are getting better.
“Their outlook to life is positive because when you experience a permanent disability, it affects your mental health and also your outlook to life.
“The recovery programme has given them an opportunity to improve their personal self-esteem, mental health, and emotional intelligence.
“So this engagement with Invictus is giving opportunity of recovery for our soldiers,’’ he said.
Marquis said Nigeria would build a state-of-the-art structure for the management of post-traumatic stress syndrome for wounded and injured soldiers involved in counter-insurgency operations.
“They will be proceeding to Kaduna to visit Nigerian Army Reference Hospital where our wounded and injured soldiers are kept for their medical recovery.
“On Saturday, we will have a novelty match where the CDS team and the Duke team will be having a volleyball match at Armed Forces Officers Mess.
“This is just to engage with the wounded and injured soldiers, it’s a sitting volleyball match coming in the morning.”
(NAN)