President Tinubu Returns To Nigeria From London

President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja from the United Kingdom (UK), ABN TV reports.

The Airbus A330 aircraft conveying the President touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 10:40 pm (local time) Sunday.

He was received by top government officials including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, among others.

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Tinubu departed Abuja for Beijing, China, on August 29, and began his official visit on Tuesday, September 2, with a meeting with President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People.

Nigeria and China signed five Memoranda of Understanding during a bilateral meeting with President Jinping.

Among the MOUs signed was the Cooperation Plan between Nigeria and China, which aimed to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative, cooperate in the peaceful application of nuclear energy, and strengthen cooperation on human resource development under the Global Development Initiative.

Others were the MoU on Media Exchange and Cooperation and the Memorandum of Understanding between China Media Group and the Nigerian Television Authority.

Nigeria also signed an MoU with China Harbour Engineering Company to build the 68 km Lagos Green rail line, designed to run from the Lekki Free Zone to the Marina and connect with the Blue Line.

The following day, Tinubu led his delegation to another round of bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

On the evening of the same day, President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, hosted the Nigerian leader at the Welcoming Banquet and Cultural Gala Performance on the eve of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit.

Before attending the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, Tinubu visited two Chinese companies: Huawei and China Harbour Engineering Company.

At FOCAC, the President, as chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, spoke on global peace, stressing multilateralism and cooperation as essential ingredients for international peace.

He concluded his visit to China with a meeting with representatives of Nigerians in the Diaspora Organisation, China chapter, during which he defended the reforms being implemented by his government in Nigeria. He also hoped that the reforms would lead the country to a destination of good roads, constant power, and good schools, like in China.

After that, President Tinubu departed Beijing for London, where he discussed climate financing with King Charles III.

China became Tinubu’s 24th foreign destination since he assumed office about 16 months ago.

So far, he has visited Equatorial Guinea, London (twice), the United Kingdom (twice); Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (twice); Nairobi, Kenya; Porto Norvo, Benin Republic; Pretoria, South Africa; Accra, Ghana; New Delhi, India; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; New York, the United States of America; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (twice); Berlin, Germany; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dakar, Senegal and Doha, Qatar.