Meghan & Harry in Nigeria: A Major Opportunity
The royal couple have a chance to make a big impact on their visit to Africa
I have long been a fan of the British Royal Family. I had the incredible opportunity to meet the late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh, when my mother performed at the Golden Jubilee in London back in 2002. I have always admired the monarchy’s ability to lend credibility and visibility to causes that don’t always get the attention they deserve; for instance, Princess Diana was one of the first major public figures to put the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the map back when it was very much still a taboo subject in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
That’s why it piqued my interest when I saw in the news recently that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are due to visit Nigeria later this month as part of promoting The Invictus Games, the annual international sports event that Harry helped conceptualize put on for wounded soldiers. Harry and Meghan were officially invited by the government of Nigeria, specifically the country’s Defense Minister Alhaji Mohammed Badaru.
Nigeria is one of only 6 countries on the entire planet where homosexuality is punishable by death. Granted the death penalty is only used in certain Nigerian states which operate under sharia law, but in the other parts being gay is still penalized with harsh penalties including imprisonment of up to 16 years.
One of the other nations that tortures and kills gay people is Brunei; some of you may be familiar with the fact that I for over a decade now have been one of the leading voices trying to convince the Sultan of Brunei to overturn the draconian law. So the campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide is an issue that I am deeply and passionately involved with.
Meghan and Harry have long, both together and individually, declared themselves to be advocates for social progress and change. As I mentioned earlier, Harry’s mother Diana was a leading voice on encouraging acceptance for people with HIV/AIDS which at the time was a disease that primarily afflicted those within the gay community. So I think it would be in keeping with Diana’s legacy and for their self-proclaimed desire to make a positive difference in the world for them to raise the topic of LGBTQ+ rights when they make their sojourn to Nigeria.
I urge them both to take up the subject when they engage in private talks with government officials, and also bring it up in any interviews they might engage in with Nigerian media.
They are in a unique position to speak up given that any Nigerian citizen who might try to do the same would most likely be vilified and even cracked down upon with legal repercussions. Their platform is not just a privilege, but a responsibility. As Diana, Princess of Wales once said: “Nothing gives me more happiness than to try to aid the most vulnerable of this society. Whoever is in distress who calls me, I will come running.” Meghan and Harry, the LGBT people of Nigeria need your help. This is a big opportunity and I hope you will use it.
I lived in London for two and half very happy years. The Royal Family gets a bad wrap for the money they cost the British taxpayers, but few will acknowledge that the government brings in more than twice that amount from tourists who come to see the changing of the Guard. I hope Harry and Meghan will indeed bring up the issue of gay rights and current discrimination.