The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who are currently in Nigeria on a 3-day tour made their first stop at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja.
The couple arrived together in Abuja just before 5am following a secret reunion at London Heathrow ‘s VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.
They spoke about mental health at the school supported by their Archewell Foundation, with Meghan encouraging them to ‘just be honest with each other’.
The couple were greeted by traditional dancers as they arrived
Speaking with the students of the Wuse Lightway Academy, Meghan Markle said;
As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well. So it is a complete honour to have our first visit to Nigeria, be here with all of you.
We believe in all of you, we believe in your futures, we believe in your ability to continue telling your stories and to just be honest with each other. There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you’re taking care of yourselves (and) your mental health.
So thank you to all of you. Thank you to these teams, to our executive director of the Archewell Foundation, whose birthday is today.
Some of the young students lined up to greet them as they entered the school
Meghan also praised James Holt, the executive director of the Archewell Foundation who has joined them on the trip, for his work – adding that his ‘birthday is today’.
It is quite interesting to note that Meghan’s mother is an African American of a Nigerian descent. The Duchess revealed on her Spotify podcast Archetypes in 2022 that she found out she has Nigerian ancestry, describing herself as ’43 per cent Nigerian’.
There was time for a selfie or two with students at the Lightway Academy
Harry also joked about Meghan’s ancestry during his opening speech at the games.
He said: ‘Now, I’m not saying we play favourites in our home, but since my wife discovered she’s of Nigerian descent, it’s likely to get a little bit more competitive this year.’
The Duke also revealed this when he met the Nigerian team and General Musa at last year’s Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany.
‘Meghan is rooting for Team Nigeria after discovering she had heritage from the West African nation,’ he stated.
The gathering was quite informal in parts, with lots of handshakes
Harry gave his own speech about mental health, evoking memories of his suffering after his mother Princess Diana‘s death when he referred to people who have ‘lost a loved one in your family and you don’t know who to turn to or who to speak to’.
The Duke – who was 12 and his brother William 15 when Diana died in Paris in 1997 – added that there was ‘no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day’.
He also told the children: ‘You can have it, she (Meghan) can have it, I can have it. They can have it. Every single one of us is likely to have it on any given day.’
For the 3-day tour, Harry and Meghan have a four-man security team with them, who have accompanied the Duke since he arrived in London. Nigeria has also provided protection including armed guards and bulletproof vehicles for the couple’s stay.
Source: DailyMail
