KEY POINTS

• President Bola Tinubu will make a state visit to the UK on March 18 and 19, the first by a Nigerian leader in nearly 40 years.

• King Charles III and Queen Camilla will host the Nigerian president and first lady at Windsor Castle.

• The visit underscores renewed diplomatic engagement between Nigeria and the UK following earlier high-level meetings.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu is set to embark on a state visit to the United Kingdom in March, marking the first official state visit by a Nigerian leader to the UK in almost four decades.

Buckingham Palace confirmed on Sunday that President Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu will be in the UK on March 18 and 19.

During the visit, King Charles III and Queen Camilla will formally host the Nigerian leader and his wife at Windsor Castle. Further details of the programme are expected to be released by the palace in the coming weeks.

State visits typically include a ceremonial welcome hosted by the monarch, a carriage procession, and a state banquet, underscoring the diplomatic significance of the occasion.

Renewed diplomatic ties

King Charles has longstanding ties with Nigeria, having visited the country four times between 1990 and 2018, before ascending the throne. He also received President Tinubu at Buckingham Palace in September 2024, signalling warming relations between both countries.

Previous Nigerian state visits to the UK were held in 1973, 1981, and 1989, highlighting the rarity of such high-level engagements.

The announcement comes after King Charles hosted several world leaders on state visits last year, including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

President Tinubu’s visit is expected to further strengthen diplomatic, economic, and historical ties between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.