President Bola Tinubu briefly stumbled on Tuesday during a ceremonial march-past organised to welcome him at a parade ground in Türkiye.
The incident happened as the President joined the guard of honour, momentarily drawing attention before the event continued without interruption. A video shared online by Turkish digital news platform Nefes Gazetesi captured the moment Tinubu was walking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he lost his footing and fell.
He was immediately assisted by members of the Secret Service and quickly regained his composure.
The reception ceremony began around 5:00 p.m. local time with the simultaneous rendition of the Nigerian and Turkish national anthems, followed by a 21-gun salute in honour of the visiting President.
After the ceremonial activities, President Tinubu and President Erdoğan proceeded to a closed-door bilateral meeting, where discussions on issues of strategic importance between both countries were expected to take place.
This marks Tinubu’s first official visit to Türkiye and comes as a reciprocal gesture following President Erdoğan’s visit to Nigeria in October 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The visit is aimed at strengthening the long-standing diplomatic ties between Nigeria and Türkiye, as well as exploring new areas of cooperation to deepen relations between the two nations.
According to the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the visit will feature high-level political and diplomatic engagements focused on shared interests in finance, communication, trade and investment.
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He added that the agenda includes meetings between senior officials of both countries and the signing of several memoranda of understanding covering areas such as scientific research, energy, technical cooperation, media and communications, military collaboration and protocol.
A business forum is also expected to hold on the sidelines of the visit to connect Nigerian and Turkish investors and promote mutually beneficial economic opportunities.
Among the senior Nigerian officials who received President Tinubu at his hotel were the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake; and the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd).
