ABUJA, Nigeria — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to advocate for the mental health of young people affected by conflict and to promote the Invictus Games, which the prince founded to help rehabilitate military personnel and veterans injured and sick.
The couple, who were in the West African country for the first time at the invitation of their military, visited the Lightway Academy school, which receives support from their Archewell foundation to educate and train young girls affected by conflicts in Nigeria.
Harry and Meghan will also meet with injured soldiers and their families in what Nigerian officials said was a show of support to improve the morale of soldiers, including those fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists in the country’s northeast.
“This involvement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity to recover our soldiers,” Abidemi Marquis, director of sports at the Nigerian Defense Headquarters, told journalists on Thursday.
Harry served in Afghanistan as a co-pilot gunner on an Apache helicopter, after which he founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to offer veterans and injured military personnel the challenge of competing in sporting events similar to the Paralympic Games. Nigeria was among the nations that participated in last year’s edition of the games.
The couple was welcomed to the Abuja school by a dance troupe and a crowd of enthusiastic students and teachers.
Student Nnenna Okorie could not hide her excitement when she met the couple. “She is the most beautiful human being ever,” said Okorie, a senior at the school. “I admire her a lot and then Harry. I love how he’s so supportive of me,” she said.
During their stay, Harry and Meghan will attend basketball and volleyball matches and meet with local non-governmental organizations in Abuja and Lagos that they support. Meghan will also co-host an event on women in leadership with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization, according to her spokesperson Charlie Gipson.
News of Meghan’s visit excited some in Nigeria, where her life – and her association with the British royal family – are closely watched. Meghan has also said in the past that she discovered through a genealogical test that she was 43% Nigerian.
The Nigerian military has touted the Invictus Games as something that could help the recovery of thousands of its military personnel who have been fighting local Islamic extremists Boko Haram and its factions since 2009, when they launched an insurgency.
“Eighty percent of our soldiers who were involved in this recovery program are improving (and) their outlook on life is positive,” said Marquis, military sports director.
“The recovery program gave them the opportunity to improve their personal self-esteem, improve their mental health and emotional intelligence.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
