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LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s King Charles hosted Nigerian President Bola Tinubu at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, in the first state visit by a Nigerian leader in 37 years, which is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.
With trade between the two countries at a record high, Charles is using the two-day visit to highlight the pair’s deep cultural and commercial links.
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After a carriage procession, Tinubu arrived in a courtyard at the castle for a royal salute, where he joined Charles in the sunshine to inspect British soldiers in traditional scarlet jackets and bearskin hats.
The state visit did not include a lunch as Tinubu is a practising Muslim who is fasting during Ramadan, but a state banquet will take place later on Wednesday evening.
STRONG LINKS WITH NIGERIA
Britain is home to a large Nigerian diaspora, with about 300,000 Nigerians living in the UK.
One of the most high-profile Britons of Nigerian heritage is Kemi Badenoch, the main opposition Conservative leader who is the first Black woman to lead a major British political party. She was born in London to Nigerian parents.
The British government hopes the visit will reinforce the UK’s role as a global centre for African business.
Charles spent the afternoon showing Tinubu items related to Nigeria from the royal collection, accompanied by their wives, Queen Camilla and Oluremi, and heir to the throne Prince William and his wife Kate.
Among the items were a manuscript written by Ben Okri, the Nigerian-born British poet and novelist, who was the first Black writer to win the Booker Prize, and a Yoruba throne, stitched with thousands of small, coloured beads, which Nigeria had presented to Charles’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth in 1956.
The visit also included a trip to her tomb in St George’s Chapel to lay a wreath of flowers.
Charles, who is still undergoing regular treatment for cancer, has hosted several high-profile state visits over the last nine months, welcoming German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The government advises the monarch on his relations with foreign leaders in Britain, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not been shy in harnessing the soft power of the royal family to try to boost the country’s stagnant economy.
Starmer is due to meet Tinubu on Thursday, while the president’s wife, Oluremi, a Christian, is due to visit Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
SOURCE: REUTERS
