President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja following a state visit to Brazil aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s relations with Latin America’s largest economy and broadening its global alliances for national development.
According to a Presidency source, his aircraft touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at 1:20 a.m. on Thursday, where he was welcomed by senior government officials.
Tinubu had left Brasília on Tuesday afternoon, with his plane departing the International Airport Air Force Base at 12:57 p.m. local time.
He was seen off by top Brazilian diplomats, including Amb. Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte, Secretary for Africa and the Middle East, and Amb. Carlos José Areias Moreno Garcete, Brazil’s Ambassador to Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and other senior officials also witnessed the departure, which featured a guard of honour led by Col. Cel Nicolas.
The President had arrived in Brasília on Monday, August 25, to a red-carpet welcome and full military honours at the Palácio do Planalto, a gesture underscoring the importance Brazil attaches to its relations with Nigeria.
In his bilateral talks with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Tinubu secured the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) covering aviation, foreign affairs, science and technology, and agriculture, sectors critical to Nigeria’s economic rebound.
Beyond ceremony, the agreements directly address the administration’s urgent priorities: enhancing food security, stimulating industrial growth, and positioning Nigeria as an investment destination.
With Petrobras preparing to return, Air Peace set to launch direct Lagos–São Paulo flights, and new frameworks for cooperation sealed, the visit may well stand out as one of the Tinubu administration’s most consequential diplomatic forays.
