KEY POINTS
- Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu landed in Nigeria Friday after the two-day UK state visit.
- The visit produced a £746 million UK Export Finance deal for Lagos and Tin Can Island ports.
- Nigeria and the UK also signed a new agreement to facilitate the return of failed asylum seekers and convicted offenders.
President Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu touched down in Nigeria Friday morning, closing a two-day state visit to the United Kingdom that produced a £746 million port financing deal, new export agreements, and a migration pact covering the return of failed Nigerian asylum seekers.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio led the government officials on hand to receive the presidential couple as the aircraft landed. Presidential media aide Sunday Dare captured the arrival on video and shared it on X, describing the visit as “resoundingly successful.”
The Tinubu returns Nigeria UK visit moment closed a programme that began on Tuesday when the president and First Lady departed Abuja for London Stansted Airport. The visit ran March 18 to 19 and marked the first formal state visit by a Nigerian president to the United Kingdom in 37 years, the previous one having taken place in 1989 under military leader Ibrahim Babangida.
What the visit delivered
King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted the Tinubus at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, where the presidential couple received a ceremonial welcome including an honour guard and carriage procession before attending a state banquet that evening. Tinubu used his banquet address to credit the UK with sheltering him during Nigeria’s military dictatorship years, and King Charles described the bilateral relationship as a partnership of equals.
Thursday’s bilateral session with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street produced the visit’s most significant commercial outcome: a £746 million financing arrangement through UK Export Finance, the Nigerian Ports Authority, and the Federal Ministry of Finance, covering the refurbishment of Lagos Port Complex at Apapa and Tin Can Island Port.
The Tinubu returns Nigeria UK visit also brought a new migration agreement under which both governments committed to cooperating on the return of failed Nigerian asylum seekers, visa overstayers, and convicted offenders. Starmer also announced new export agreements, describing Thursday’s session as taking the bilateral relationship to another level.
