Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said Turkish authorities brushed off the discussion in Nigeria surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s brief stumble during his official visit, describing it as “silly”.
Dabiri-Erewa made this known on Wednesday while responding to a post on X by Oguntoye Opeyemi, popularly known as Equityoyo, who faulted Nigerian media for the attention given to the incident.
“Exactly. On ground here in Ankara, their officials were shocked to learn that it was an issue in Nigerian media/blogs,” she wrote.
According to the NIDCOM chair, Turkish officials expressed surprise that the moment generated controversy, with one of them characterising the focus as “silly and mischievous,” while stressing that Tinubu’s visit was widely seen as successful across Türkiye.
“One of them described it as ‘silly and mischievous,’ and reiterated how their country was excited about the incredible success of the visit by @officialABAT, which is all over their media here,” Dabiri-Erewa added.
In his post, Opeyemi also pointed out that the incident did not make headlines in Türkiye’s major media outlets.
“Not a single Turkish TV station reported the President’s accidental slip because it’s a non-issue. But Naija TV and national newspapers,” he wrote.
President Tinubu had momentarily stumbled on Tuesday during a ceremonial march-past held in his honour at the parade ground in Ankara.
The incident happened as he stepped forward to join the guard of honour, briefly attracting attention before proceedings continued smoothly.
A video of the moment, initially shared by Turkish digital platform Nefes Gazetesi and later circulated on X, showed Tinubu walking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before briefly losing his balance.
He was quickly assisted by security operatives.
Tinubu’s visit, his first official trip to Türkiye, is aimed at strengthening diplomatic relations and expanding cooperation in defence, trade, investment, energy, media and scientific research.