First Lady Oluremi Tinubu is scheduled to preach at London’s Lambeth Palace, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, on Thursday, as Nigeria marks its first state visit to the United Kingdom in nearly four decades.
President Bola Tinubu and the First Lady arrived on Tuesday at London’s Stansted Airport.
Oluremi Tinubu is also expected to meet representatives of the Church of England on the same day.
According to the official schedule reported by AFP, the First Lady’s preaching will follow a meeting between her, President Tinubu, and King Charles III on Wednesday. They are also scheduled to meet the heir to the throne, Prince William, and his wife, Catherine, before travelling together to Windsor on the same day.
King Charles will later receive Tinubu at Windsor Castle, west of London, before hosting a state banquet in the evening.
Tinubu has visited Britain several times during his tenure, with both countries maintaining strong ties in trade, aid, and defence. London is also home to a large Nigerian diaspora.
Britain and Nigeria share longstanding diplomatic relations, and both countries concluded a strategic partnership in November 2024 to strengthen economic, immigration, and security cooperation.
Key discussions during the visit are expected to cover major Nigerian port renovations supported by Britain, as well as trade, which reached 8.1 billion pounds ($11 billion) in the year to September 2025, representing an 11.4 per cent increase year-on-year.
The visit comes shortly after suspected suicide bombings killed at least 23 people in north-eastern Nigeria on Monday evening.
The country has faced a jihadist insurgency since 2009, which US President Donald Trump has described as a “genocide” of Christians — a claim denied by the Nigerian government, sparking a diplomatic dispute between Washington and Abuja.
Tinubu responded by directing security chiefs to relocate to Maiduguri to “take charge of the situation”.
On Thursday, Tinubu is also expected to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and members of the Nigerian community in the UK.
Notably, the official schedule does not include the traditional meeting between a visiting head of state and the British opposition.
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 had visited Nigeria four times as Prince of Wales.