By Desire Emmanuel
King Charles and Queen Camilla will host President Bola Tinubu at Buckingham Palace in March in the first state visit by the Nigerian leader to the UK in 37 years, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu have accepted an invitation to be guests of the King at Windsor Castle from March 18 to 19, the Palace said on its X handle on Saturday night.
The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, when military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, travelled to meet the late Queen Elizabeth for a four-day trip.
Although this will be Tinubu’s first formal state visit to the UK, he has already met the King since taking office in 2023.
Tinubu and his wife were received at Buckingham Palace in September 2024 and also held a bilateral meeting with the King on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The visit comes at a time of improving diplomatic and economic links between the UK and Nigeria – with trade between the two worth more than £8 billion in the year to October, government figures show. This makes the African nation one of the UK’s most important partners in the continent.
Bayo Onanuga, the president’s media aide, also wrote about the planned visit: “First state visit of a Nigerian leader to the UK in 37 years confirmed. President Tinubu and First Lady Remi Tinubu to be hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla from 18th March to 19th March 2026.”
