The Nigerian Army has unveiled plans to construct a state-of-the-art Invictus Centre, aimed at facilitating the complete recovery and rehabilitation of wounded soldiers and veterans of the nations Armed Forces.
This revelation was made at a reception in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, who are on private visit to Nigeria on the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Chris Musa.
The royal couple are on a three-day mission in Nigeria to promote the Invictus Games, which was founded in 2014 by the Duke of Sussex.
Prince Harry said the invictus community was privileged to have Nigeria become the first African country to join it, expressing satisfaction, he praised the Nigerian Government for supporting the project aimed at acknowledging the achievements of servicemen and women and in the same vein to support their rehabilitation and recovery.
“Our hope is that the warmth and hospitality that has been so graciously offered to us will then be extended through admiration and respect for the service members of their families long after we’re gone.
“As some of you know, when one person serves, the whole family serves and we cannot leave families behind in the healing journey.
“When one person’s trauma affects those around them, the healing of that one person can affect and improve the entire community,” he said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru, thanked Prince Harry and his Wife for establishing the Invictus Game and their empathy for wounded veterans.
According to the Minister, the support had given the government confidence to continue to work and to continue to support the wounded, adding that the government would do its best to recognize and protect heroes.
“I want to reiterate the unwavering commitment of the Nigerian government to the health of our wounded and injured soldiers.
“We are dedicated to the recovery and rehabilitation in this pursuit and we are eager to collaborate closely with the Invictus Game foundation to extend its vision to all formations within the armed forces of Nigeria.
“The Ministry of Defence understands ongoing sacrifices made by our soldiers in numerous operations against advisors.
“We want to assure them that the government has a recourse programme in place to support their recovery in the event of injury,” he said.
He also gave assurance that the construction of the state-of-the-art Invictus Centre would be completed with efficiency.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, represented by the Chief of Administration, Maj.-Gen. Jimmy Akpor, noted that the Nigerian Army contains a number of wounded soldiers, who needed urgent and necessary assistance.
The COAS added that the army had participated in many internal situations operations, as well as peace support operations and peacekeeping missions at home and abroad, with the support of the government, highlighting that it doesn’t remove the fair share of wounded injured, sick and incapacitated troops.
Lt,-Gen. Lagbaja further said that the sum of N88 million had been approved to obtain limb protestors for one of the wounded soldiers to be able to upgrade his games.
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