Letter from Africa: Prince Harry and a royal scramble for the continent

In our bid of letters from African journalists, writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks astatine what Nigerians person been making of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's latest revelations - particularly Prince Harry's brushwood with a leopard.

Nigerians presently person galore large issues to contend with, specified arsenic mysterious substance scarcities, ubiquitous insecurity and imminent statesmanlike elections.

Nevertheless, heartfelt conversations astir Prince Harry and his woman Meghan pursuing their Netflix documentary and the work of Spare, the memoir of the UK monarch's youngest son, are ongoing adjacent successful our mothers' and aunts' WhatsApp groups - the eventual motion of a topic's popularity successful the country.

While determination whitethorn beryllium galore Nigerians who person watched the documentary and work the book, I bash not cognize of any. Yet the watercourse of headlines has been wide discussed successful this erstwhile British colony.

My mother, who seldom reads immoderate British newspapers, seems to person much details of the saga than I bash - and plentifulness of different alleged insider information. Nigerian WhatsApp groups are a notorious breeding crushed for fake and outlandish news.

From the headlines we person seen truthful far, Africa has travel up a fig of times successful Harry's and Meghan's stories. The mates talked lovingly to Netflix astir their Zimbabwean nanny and however they allowed her to transportation their lad Archie connected her back, tying him with a cloth, which is commonplace successful galore African countries.

Harry revealed successful the documentary that they had wanted to determination to South Africa but scrapped that program aft it was leaked to the media.

The prince has been peculiarly progressive successful Lesotho, which is surrounded by South Africa and wherever helium archetypal went arsenic a 19-year-old and continued to sojourn regularly - becoming friends with Prince Seeiso.

Together they acceptable up a foundation successful 2006 to assistance susceptible children, particularly those affected by the HIV epidemic.

"Lesotho gave maine the abstraction and the state to breathe, to unrecorded and to grow. I've got a 2nd household retired determination and a radical of friends that virtually brought maine up," helium told Netflix.

In his publication helium besides described a aboriginal quality with his older member William implicit who should ain the Africa foundation brief.

"Africa is my thing, you can't person it," Harry says William told him successful what could beryllium considered a modern-day scramble for Africa.

Yet neither this sibling rivalry nor different mentions of the continent look to person garnered arsenic overmuch involvement amongst Nigerians arsenic Harry's statement successful Spare of an incidental successful 1999 with a leopard successful Botswana, which helium interpreted arsenic a connection from his mother, the precocious Princess Diana.

He took a measurement towards the leopard, which had travel into their safari campy 1 evening, until immoderate aides grabbed him away.

"I thought of my mother. That leopard was, without a doubt, a awesome sent by her," Harry wrote.

He separately described consulting a medium, who besides gave him a connection from his mother.

"You're surviving the beingness she couldn't. You're surviving the beingness she wanted for you," the unnamed pistillate told him.

However, the communicative going viral successful Nigeria seems to person conflated the 2 incidents, giving the content that Harry consulted a mean successful Africa.

This fake quality communicative has generated rather a spot of amusement here, based connected the stereotype of Africa and our penchant for the supernatural.

Nigeria's hugely palmy movie industry, known arsenic Nollywood, often produces films featuring radical consulting accepted priests who assertion the quality to spot into the past, aboriginal and the satellite of the dead.

But portion the play has been a root of intrigue and comedy, galore Nigerians find the full concern heart-breaking, and proceed to explicit anticipation of a royal household reconciliation.

Nigerian cultures disagree and individuals bash not each stock the aforesaid thoughts and attitudes, but we are mostly a family-focused people. Family bonds are 1 of our halfway values.

Many of america person parents from polygamous homes, and immense extended families, wherever play is seldom lacking.

The Nigerian mode to woody with this is to telephone a household forum - with the beingness of galore relatives - to resoluteness the large conflicts that arise. All sides are invited to contiguous their lawsuit and aerial their grievances successful the beingness of respected household members, including supporters of each opposing party.

The ambiance tin get heated, fingers pointed successful faces and punches attempted oregon thrown. Family members contiguous are usually connected standby to guarantee that these bust-ups bash not get retired of hand.

Growing up, I watched my begetter mediate implicit household issues successful his relation arsenic the archetypal lad of his precocious father, who had 3 wives and much than 20 children.

In much caller years erstwhile my begetter became the oldest subordinate and truthful caput of the full Nwaubani clan, I person watched his relation of mediator grow to screen much families, successful disputes from those betwixt siblings oregon cousins, to couples oregon in-laws.

By the clip each enactment has said their accidental to their fill, it often becomes wide that recollections truly tin vary, arsenic good arsenic perspectives and interpretations.

You could spell into 1 of these meetings convinced that a pistillate is simply a selfish spendthrift, and travel retired convinced alternatively that her hubby is simply a tight-fisted tyrant.

Even if a solution satisfactory to some parties is not reached, everyone astatine slightest goes distant afloat alert of the intricacies of the contented - and not from a 3rd party, similar the media.

Perhaps this benignant of African household gathering could assistance the British monarchy astatine this hard time?