…Invictus Games Kick Off
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Princess Meghan will arrive Nigeria on Friday,(Today), May 10 2024, for a 3-Day visit.
The DHQ further informed the visit will focus on wounded soldiers from various military operations and the Invictus games.
The Director of Sports, Defence headquarters and chairman of the organising committee of the visit, Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, made known at a briefing on activities lined up for the visit.
Marquis said the visit would lay credence to the fact that the Nigerian Armed Forces had been accepted as a member of the Invictus community.
Africa Health Report published earlier that the couple was billed to visit Nigeria in May this year.
Disclosing that Nigeria is also looking forward to hosting an Invictus game, he said it was one of the reasons for the visit adding that the Nigerian armed forces had concluded plan to build a state-of-the-art Invictus structure for the management of post-traumatic stress syndrome for wounded and injured soldiers due to the engagement in the counter-insurgency operation.
“They will be proceeding to Kaduna to visit the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital where our wounded and injured soldiers are kept for their medical recovery.
“On Saturday, we will have something like an exhibition of novelty matches where the CDS team and the Duke team will be having a volleyball match at the 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,” he stated.
The visit, which is on the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, to Prince Harry, who founded the Invictus Game, would enable him to visit and interact with some of the wounded soldiers.
AVM Marquis disclosed that Prince Harry, who founded the Invictus Game, would alongside his wife visit wounded soldiers at Army Reference Hospital Kaduna on Saturday, and also also interact with wounded soldiers and their families in Abuja as well as witness a novelty volleyball match involving wounded soldiers and the CDS team during the visit.
Further disclosure by Marquis is that the visit would go a long way to help the wounded soldiers in their recovery as well as help with their mental health.
In addition to visiting the wounded soldiers, Marquis said they would also visit Lagos on Sunday where they are supporting an NGO, and be a guest of the Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State before departing Nigeria on Monday.
“We realised that 80 percent of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery programme and they are getting better.
“Their outlook on life is positive because when you experience a permanent disability, it affects your mental health and also your outlook on life,”Marquis said, while stressing the importance of the visit.
He added, “The recovery programme has given them an opportunity to improve their personal self-esteem, to improve their mental health, their emotional intelligence and also their families seeing them continuing living.
“So this engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for a recovery for our soldiers”.
