By Akinsuroju Olubunmi
UK Journalists criticize Harry & Meghan’s Nigeria visit.
British journalist and presenter Kevin O’Sullivan has criticized Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for their recent visit to Nigeria. The couple traveled to Nigeria to celebrate the Invictus Games, a tournament founded by Harry for wounded soldiers, but their visit has sparked backlash from British journalists and royal supporters.
O’Sullivan, speaking on TalkTV, argued that Nigeria does not merit an endorsement from anyone, especially the royal family. He stated, “The royal family doesn’t just go anywhere. These tours are planned years in advance, and the countries that the royals honor with their visits are very carefully chosen. There’s no way our royal family would set foot in Nigeria, a country where female genital mutilation is rife; where women’s rights basically don’t exist; and where hundreds of kids are regularly kidnapped by extremist Islamic groups. This is not a country that should be endorsed by anyone, certainly not our royal family. These two are naive in what they’re doing. They’re making this country look good when it doesn’t deserve it.”
Despite these comments, King Charles III has visited Nigeria four times, in 1990, 1999, 2006, and 2018.
Royal correspondent and expert Michael Cole, a guest on O’Sullivan’s show, also criticized the visit, calling Nigeria a dangerous destination. Cole remarked, “I couldn’t tell you the number of royal tours that I’ve been on and what you say is absolutely right. Nigeria, the foreign office, and the American State Department both say it’s a dangerous destination, you must not go there. It vies with Johannesburg, South Africa to be the murder capital of the continent. In that country, there’s industrial scale, volumes of people who are ripping off people around the world, internet fraud, wholesale internet fraud, defrauding old ladies, stealing identities and none of that is ever prosecuted.”
Cole, a former BBC journalist, expressed confusion over Prince Harry’s decision to visit Nigeria, stating that it defies common sense and reason.
Nigeria, royal.
UK Journalists criticize Harry & Meghan’s Nigeria visit