The second day of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit to Nigeria began with a game of sitting volleyball.
In Abuja, the couple spent time with Nigeria Unconquered, which compiles the country’s Invictus Games team.
Harry and Meghan will speak at a reception organized by the Chief of Defense Staff of the Nigerian armed forces.
The duchess will later co-host a Women in Leadership event with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organization.
After arriving at the Armed Forces officers’ mess and receiving scarves in Nigeria’s green and white colors, Harry and Meghan watched a seated volleyball match, before Harry was invited to play with the team.
The duke took part in a few rounds of the game, which were played by ‘Team Harry’ and ‘Team CDS’ – referring to the military chief of staff behind the couple’s visit to Nigeria.
The other players were army veterans, most of them injured in the battle against the country’s Islamic insurgency.
On the Duke’s team was former Nigerian soldier Peacemaker Azuegbulam, who lost his leg in combat against Boko Haram. He became the first African to win gold at the Invictus Games in Germany last year.
The Duke then joined the team’s rallying cry before speaking to the athletes’ family and friends.
Last year, Nigeria became the first African country to participate in the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for injured military personnel and veterans, co-founded by Prince Harry in 2014.
On the first day of the mini-tour, on Friday, Harry spoke about the joy that the Nigeria team brought to the games in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The charity Nigeria Unconquered, which will bring together Nigeria’s team for next year’s Invictus Games in Canada, helps injured, ill and injured personnel “find new purpose” through sport.
On Saturday, Meghan was presented with a bouquet of roses by six-year-old Royalty Ojeh, daughter of Nigeria Unconquered founder Bobby Ojeh. Moved by the gesture, the duchess offered the royal one of the roses to keep.
After the sitting volleyball game, the Duke and Duchess participated in a reception that included performances by drummers and traditional dancers, as well as comments from several leaders.
Dr. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chair of the Commission on Nigerians in the Diaspora, shared her delight at the duchess’s Nigerian heritage, telling Meghan that she was too beautiful not to be Nigerian.
She presented Meghan and Harry with an outfit made from aso oke, a hand-woven fabric from southwestern Nigeria.
In a speech, Harry shared a story of his trip to a military rehabilitation center in Kaduna on Friday, where he met 50 injured military personnel who were in hospital.
“There were two of the 50 that were a little different,” he said. “They had smiles on their faces. One of them was doing push-ups. I was intrigued.”
He added: “They knew their lives were not defined by past injuries – that’s what Invictus is about and that’s what their new center will be about.”
The public was shown a video of a 3D rendering of a “state-of-the-art” Invictus Center that authorities hope to build in Abuja soon.
Before arriving in Nigeria, Prince Harry visited London as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games and attended a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Meanwhile, the royal, whose cancer treatment is ongoing, met the public at a garden party at Buckingham Palace, just over two miles away.
A spokesperson for the Duke confirmed that he would not see his father during his stay in the UK due to the King’s “full schedule”, but that he “hopes to see him soon”.
Harry was last in the UK in February to visit the king, shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer.
