Royal visit to West Africa: Nigeria

Day three: Thursday 8th November 

Today, on the final day of the Royal visit to Nigeria, The Prince of Wales visited the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Memorial in Abuja.

His Royal Highness laid a wreath at the memorial and an Imam and a Chaplain from the Nigerian Guards Brigade recited an Islamic and then a Christian prayer.

After the commemorations, The Prince met the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff and the Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as a number of guests

The Nigerian National Military Cemetery contains not only the Abuja Memorial erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission but also has memorials commemorating more recent conflicts.

The Prince of Wales then attended a Rural Livelihoods Engagement and joined a discussion on the challenges of poultry rearing in Nigeria and the production of a cereal crop, Fonio, locally known as Acha.

The Prince discussed also discussed WaterAid programmes with ChiChi Okoye, Country Director of WaterAid and her staff.

The Prince of Wales has been President of WaterAid since 1991.

Finally, to end the visit to Nigeria and the Royal tour to West Africa, The Prince of Wales joined a Peacebuilding and Interfaith Engagement, chaired by The Deputy High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson.

During the engagement, His Royal Highness heard stories and experiences from youth peace ambassadors. A Youth Peace Camp is held 4 times a year bringing together 600 youths of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.

The young people are camped for seven days in Jos where they receive lectures on a range of topics related to conflict and peacebuilding, and participate in sports and team-building activities. At the end of the seven-day period, the youths are inducted into a network called the Youth Peace Ambassador Network and return to their communities to work with other stakeholders to promote peaceful co-existence.

Day two: Wednesday 7th November 

Today The Prince of Wales travelled to Lagos in Nigeria as he continued the Royal Tour of West Africa.

The Prince began the day at Lagos Naval Berths and was met on arrival by the commanding officer, Andrew Zidon, who trained at the Britannia Royal Naval College from 2002 to 2003.

The Prince met The British Military Training and Advisory Team, and Nigerians who are being trained in the Joint Maritime security training centre in Lagos before His Royal Highness watched a training exercise.

The Prince of Wales then attended an Accounting for Sustainability Roundtable and joined a discussion on how business can improve sustainability within their organisations and how challenges may be overcome.

Next, His Royal Highness met young entrepreneurs from the worlds of digital, music, film, fashion and social entrepreneurship at the British Council Festival before attending a reception for The Prince’s Trust International.

The Prince's Trust International works to combat the global issue of youth unemployment and focuses on supporting young people overseas. 

In the evening, The Prince of Wales attended a Reception at the Deputy High Commissioner’s Residence, where he met members of Nigeria Commonwealth Walkway Committee and a number of Nigerian fashion designers.

Day one: Tuesday 6th November

Today The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Nigeria for a three-day visit that will conclude Their Royal Highnesses’s tour of West Africa.

After being greeted on arrival by The British High Commissioner, Paul Arkwright C.M.G. and The Nigerian Foreign Minister, The Hon. Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, The Prince and The Duchess travelled to the Presidential Villa in Abuja where The President of Nigeria, H.E. Muhammadu Buhari, welcomed them to the country.

After a private meeting with The President, The Prince of Wales attended a meeting with Traditional Rulers at the British High Commissioner's Residence. Nigeria’s traditional rulers have their origins in the independent states and kingdoms that existed in Nigeria before the colonial period and The Prince met the most senior rulers from across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones.

Meanwhile The Duchess of Cornwall met children taking part in a literary workshop at the Salamander Café. The workshop was the first in a series of events to encourage children to participate in The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition.

Nigerian and British authors who are part of Abuja Literary Society were also at today’s literary workshop, and read out some of their work to The Duchess and guests. The Society is a highly regarded group comprising many well-known literary minds, including published authors like Chinere Obo Obasi, Denja Abdullahi, Theresa Ameh as well as amateur and budding writers.

The Duchess of Cornwall then joined a discussion of ideas for a future Women of the World Festival (WOW) which is to be held in Nigeria in the future.

HRH told the gathered group: “Women get together to discuss things that matter to them so I think especially here in Nigeria it is a fantastic place to start.”

In the evening, Their Royal Highnesses attended a reception at the British High Commissioner’s Residence.

During a speech, The Prince said: “It was of particular importance to my wife and to myself that we should conclude our Tour of West Africa by coming here to Nigeria, and to experience, however briefly, something of the extraordinary nature of this immense country.”

To keep up to date with the Royal visit to West Africa, follow #RoyalVisitTheGambia, #RoyalVisitGhana and #RoyalVisitNigeria.