President Bola Tinubu briefly stumbled on Tuesday during a ceremonial march-past organised in his honour at the parade ground in Türkiye.
The incident occurred as the President took part in the guard of honour alongside his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A momentary pause followed the stumble, which drew brief attention before the programme continued without disruption.
A video shared on X by Turkish digital news platform Nefes Gazetesi captured the moment Tinubu, walking beside President Erdoğan, stumbled and went to the ground. He was immediately assisted by members of the Secret Service and swiftly regained his footing.
The reception, which began at about 5:00 pm local time, featured the simultaneous rendition of the Nigerian and Turkish national anthems, followed by a ceremonial 21-gun salute. After the formalities, both leaders retired for a closed-door bilateral meeting, where discussions on issues of strategic national importance were expected to take place.
The visit marks President Tinubu’s first official trip to the European nation and is a reciprocal engagement following President Erdoğan’s visit to Nigeria in October 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu’s visit is aimed at strengthening the long-standing cordial relations between Nigeria and Türkiye, while exploring new areas of cooperation to deepen a mutually beneficial partnership.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the visit would feature strategic political and diplomatic engagements focused on shared priorities in finance, communications, trade, and investment.
According to Onanuga, the agenda includes high-level meetings between senior officials of both countries, as well as the signing of memoranda of understanding covering scientific research, energy, technical cooperation, media and communications, military collaboration, and protocol, among other areas.
A Nigeria–Türkiye business forum is also scheduled to hold on the sidelines of the visit, bringing together investors from both countries to explore opportunities for mutual economic growth.
Senior Nigerian officials who received the President at his hotel included 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).
