Africa-Press. Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles III and Queen Camilla will host the President of Nigeria on the country’s first state visit to the United Kingdom in 37 years.
Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu accepted the King’s invitation and will be guests at Windsor Castle from 18 to 19 March. State visits are a form of soft diplomacy, using royal hospitality to strengthen ties with key international partners.
The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, when military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida met the late Queen Elizabeth II during a four-day visit.
Although this will be Tinubu’s first official state visit to the UK, he has previously met the King since taking office following Nigeria’s disputed 2023 election. Tinubu and his wife were received at Buckingham Palace in September 2024 and also held bilateral talks with the King on the sidelines of COP28 in Dubai.
State visits involve ceremonial events designed to highlight the importance the UK places on its guests. The visit comes amid improving diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries. Government figures show bilateral trade exceeded £8 billion in the year ending October, making Nigeria one of the UK’s most important partners in Africa. In 2024, both countries signed a new trade and investment partnership aimed at expanding business opportunities.
The agenda for the March visit has not yet been disclosed, but state visits typically include carriage processions, a state banquet and high-level political meetings.
In 2025 alone, the King has hosted three state visits — from French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier — the first time the UK has done so since 1988.
The King has long-standing historical ties with Nigeria, a Commonwealth nation, and has expressed his fondness for Nigerian English (pidgin) and Afrobeat music.
Before ascending the throne, he visited Nigeria four times as Prince of Wales, in 1990, 1999, 2006 and 2018. Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, accompanied him on the last visit.
In 2023, King’s Trust International — formerly the Prince’s Trust — was officially launched in Nigeria, introducing a project aimed at tackling youth unemployment.
