A British journalist and presenter, Kevin O’Sullivan, has criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, for visiting Nigeria.
O’Sullivan, a presenter on TalkTV, stated that Nigeria doesn’t deserve endorsement from anyone, especially members of the royal family.
“The royal family doesn’t just go anywhere. These tours are planned years in advance and the countries that the royals honour with their visits are very carefully chosen,” he said.
“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 and these two are naive in what they’re doing. They’re making this country look good when it doesn’t deserve it.”
Background
The couple visited Nigeria to celebrate the Invictus Games, Harry’s tournament for wounded soldiers in Nigeria.
However, their visit has faced criticism from British journalists and royal supporters.
Meanwhile, the King of England, King Charles III, has visited Nigeria four times, in 1990, 1999, 2006, and 2018.
O’Sullivan’s guest, royal correspondent and expert, Michael Cole also weighed in, calling Nigeria a dangerous destination.
“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 said.
Cole, a former BBC journalist, also said he was puzzled by Prince Harry’s actions to visit Nigeria, stating that they defy common sense and reason.
One of the highlights of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first visit to Nigeria in Africa was the recognition and crowning of Meghan as African princess.
The princess described Nigeria as “my country,” noting that “being African American, part of it is not knowing so much about your lineage or background, where you come from specifically. And it was exciting … to discover more and understand what that really means.
“Thank you for welcoming me home.”
