Nigerian president to meet King Charles on first UK state visit

U.S. President Donald Trump receives a bowl of shamrocks from Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin (R) during a St. Patrick’s Day event in the East Room of the White House on March 17, 2026. [AFP]

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was due to meet King Charles III on Wednesday in the country's first state visit by Africa's most populous nation to its former colonial power in nearly four decades.

Tinubu has visited Britain several times in his tenure and the two countries remain major partners in trade, aid and defence. London is also home to a massive Nigerian diaspora.

The president and his wife arrived Tuesday at London's Stansted Airport.

On Wednesday, they will first meet heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, and travel with them to Windsor.

Charles will later receive Tinubu for an audience at the historic Windsor Castle, west of London, before hosting a state banquet there in the evening.

Britain and Nigeria have a strong diplomatic relationship and London and Abuja concluded a strategic partnership in November 2024 to strengthen economic, immigration and security cooperation.

Likely on the agenda are issues ranging from major Nigerian port renovations backed by Britain as well as trade, which reached 8.1 billion pounds ($11 billion) in the year to September 2025, an 11.4 percent year-on-year increase.

The visit comes after suspected suicide bombings killed at least 23 people in northeastern Nigeria on Monday evening.

The west African nation has been roiled by a jihadist insurgency since 2009, which US President Donald Trump has claimed amounts to a "genocide" of Christians -- sparking a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Abuja, which denies the allegations.

Tinubu responded by ordering security chiefs to move to the northeastern African city of Maiduguri, where the attacks happened, to "take charge of the situation".

On Thursday, Tinubu is expected to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as members of the Nigerian community abroad, according to the official schedule.

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, a Christian pastor, is set to preach at London's Lambeth Palace -- the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury -- on Thursday and meet representatives of the Church of England.

Missing from the official schedule is the traditional meeting between the visiting head of state and the British opposition.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who is of Nigerian descent, has repeatedly publicly criticised the country she was raised in over corruption and violence.

The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, although Tinubu was received by Charles in September 2024.

Before the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022, Charles also visited Nigeria four times as Prince of Wales.