King Charles is hosting the first Nigerian state visit to the UK for 37 years, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife Oluremi Tinubu receiving a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle.
At the start of the two-day visit, the leaders of the African nation with the biggest population – triple that of the UK – were greeted by senior royals including Queen Camilla, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The King and President Tinubu will give speeches on Wednesday evening at the state banquet, which will be attended by political leaders and celebrities with links to Nigeria.
However, there will be no traditional lunch with the King at Windsor as the president is a Muslim and fasting for Ramadan.
In warm spring sunshine, the president and first lady – wearing traditional robes – were given the ceremonial grandeur of a royal welcome.
There was a carriage procession, bringing the Nigerian visitors into the quadrangle inside Windsor Castle, where a military band, with careful symmetry, paraded on the checkerboard lawn.
There was a gun salute, national anthems were played, guards were inspected and the Household Cavalry kicked up dust as they paraded inside the castle, in front of a viewing stand for the King and Queen and their visitors.
President Tinubu and Mrs Tinubu had been met earlier by Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, before being escorted to formally meet the King and Queen.
When the royal hosts and their visitors went inside the castle, they viewed Nigerian items from the Royal Collection, including a Yoruba throne, sculptures, paintings and the manuscript of a poem by Sir Ben Okri.
Official gifts were exchanged. The president and Mrs Tinubu were given hand-crafted pottery, a silver photo frame containing a picture of the King and Queen and a silver and enamel bowl.
In return, the King and Queen were given a traditional Yoruba statuette and a jewellery box featuring the faces of important Nigerian women.
State visits are a way of building relationships with international partners and the Nigeria visit will see a strengthening of business links, including financial services.
There are also personal and family connections. More than 270,000 Nigerian-born people live in the UK.
The visit takes place against the backdrop of war in the Middle East as well as the conflict in Ukraine – with Ukraine’s President Zelensky meeting King Charles on Tuesday.
The banquet will also see the King’s first speech since the arrest of his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
On Thursday, Tinubu is expected to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and members of the Nigerian community abroad, according to the official schedule.
Missing from the official schedule is the traditional meeting between the visiting head of state and the British opposition.
Credit: bbc.com
