Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, visited Nigeria yesterday, as part of his promotion of the Invictus Games, the sporting event he founded for wounded military veterans.
The couple arrived in the Nigerian capital, Abuja yesterday, where they visited a school to open an event on mental health for students there.
Greeted by a drum and dance group from the Igbo ethnic group, Prince Harry and Megan toured the Lightway Academy, where they were welcomed by pupils.
Wearing a traditional Nigerian bead necklace around his neck, he told students, “If you take anything away from today, just know that mental health affects every single person. The more you talk about it the more you can kick stigma away”.
As the Prince left the school, a student, Nnena Edeh, 13, said,
“It was really cool. I just wanted to touch him. It was really inspiring”.
Prince Harry was in London on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the games. As with all his trips to the UK since he moved to the United States in 2020, his visit prompted fresh speculation over a reconciliation with his family.
Harry, a former army captain who served as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, founded Invictus in 2014. Since then the Games have expanded, boosting rehabilitation through sports.
Recall that last year, former Nigerian soldier, Peacemaker Azuegbulam, who lost his leg in combat, became the first African to win a gold at the Games in Germany.
Recall that the military on Thursday, said that Harry would take part in a sporting event in the capital, and also travel to Kaduna in Nigeria’s North-West region to visit a military hospital and speak with troops wounded in combat.
He would later travel to the country’s commercial capital, Lagos.
