President Bola Tinubu is set to return to Abuja from the United Kingdom on Sunday, as revealed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement titled “President Tinubu returns to Abuja from an official trip to China after a stopover in London.”
According to Onanuga, Tinubu will be returning after completing an official visit to China and a brief stay in the UK.
Tinubu had left Abuja for Beijing on August 29, and on September 2, he began his official engagements with a meeting with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. During the visit, Nigeria and China signed five Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), including the Cooperation Plan to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative, collaboration on the peaceful application of nuclear energy, and human resource development under the Global Development Initiative. Other agreements included MoUs on media exchange between China Media Group and the Nigerian Television Authority, and with China Harbour Engineering Company to build the 68 km Lagos Green Rail Line.
Additionally, an MoU was signed for a $1 billion iron ore-to-steel project in Kogi State between Chart and Capstone Integrated Limited of Nigeria and China’s Sinomach-He. Tinubu also held bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and attended a Welcoming Banquet hosted by President Xi Jinping before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit.
While in China, Tinubu visited Huawei and China Harbour Engineering Company and later addressed the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as the chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State. He emphasized multilateralism and cooperation as essential to global peace and also met with Nigerians in the Diaspora in China to discuss the reforms being implemented by his government.
Following his engagements in China, Tinubu traveled to London, where he met with King Charles III to discuss climate financing. Since taking office 16 months ago, Tinubu has visited 24 foreign destinations, including Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, the UK, Kenya, Benin Republic, South Africa, Ghana, India, the UAE, the US, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Qatar.