President Tinubu meets royals in UK state visit

 

The UK’s King Charles III has welcomed Nigerian President Bola Tinubu at Windsor Castle in the first state visit by the leader of Africa’s most populous nation in nearly four decades.

More than 1,000 soldiers were out in force on Wednesday for the diplomatic show of soft power by the royal family.

With trade between the two countries at a record high, Charles is using the two-day visit to highlight the pair’s deep cultural and commercial links.

Tinubu has made less formal visits to the United Kingdom several times during his tenure, and the two countries remain major partners in trade, aid and defence. London is also home to a large Nigerian diaspora of about 300,000 people.

Nigeria’s presidency said the visit signalled a “renewed chapter” and reflected a shared commitment to “advancing trade and strengthening diplomatic ties”.

Calling the visit “historic”, London announced Nigerian companies, including banks, are expanding operations and creating hundreds of jobs in the UK, strengthening it as a global hub for African business.

Nigerian flags and Union Jacks

King Charles and Queen Camilla greeted the president and his wife in Windsor, west of London, as artillery fired salutes.

Both Nigerian flags and Union Jacks fluttered amid the procession.

The Nigerian president and his wife earlier chatted with heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, at a hotel in the town.

The party then rode in carriages to the historic Windsor Castle.

Later, the king and queen showed the president and first lady items from the UK’s colonial rule of Nigeria, which existed until 1960.

Later on Wednesday evening, a lavish state banquet took place.

On Thursday, Tinubu is expected to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as members of the Nigerian community abroad, according to the official schedule.

Missing from the official schedule is the traditional meeting between the visiting head of state and the British opposition.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who is of Nigerian descent, has repeatedly publicly criticised the country she was raised in over corruption and violence.

The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, although Tinubu was received by Charles in September 2024.

Before the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022, Charles also visited Nigeria four times as prince of Wales.

Tinubu’s visit went ahead, despite a deadly bombing in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State on Monday, which killed 23 people and injured more than 100, with the president condemning the attacks and insisting “Nigeria will not succumb to fear.”

By AFP and Reuters

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Gunmen kill at least 15 in attacks on two villages in northwestern Nigeria

Gunmen killed at least 15 people on Tuesday during attacks on two villages in northwestern Nigeria, authorities said.

The villages of Falale and Kadobe — neighbouring communities in the Jibia area of Katsina State — were attacked in the early afternoon, according to Nasir Mu’azu, the state’s Commissioner for Home Affairs.

Mu’azu said local security forces had previously killed three gunmen during a firefight in the area. In retaliation, gunmen carried out a reprisal assault on Tuesday that left at least 15 people dead.

“Security forces have since restored order and stabilized the situation,” he said in a statement. “We appeal to residents to remain calm and allow security forces to complete their investigation.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Armed groups, known as ‘bandits’, regularly carry out raids and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and north-central part of Nigeria.

Authorities have said the bandit groups include mostly former herders who took up arms against farming communities after clashes between them over increasingly strained resources.

Alongside attacks by bandits, Nigeria is also plagued by an insurgency fought by the Boko Haram extremist group and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province. Both groups are mostly active in northeastern Nigeria.

On Monday, suspected suicide bombings killed at least 23 people and wounded 108 others in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

The security crisis in Africa’s most populous country has worsened recently to include other militants from the neighbouring Sahel region, including the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year.

Several thousand people in Nigeria have been killed, according to data from the United Nations. Analysts say not enough is being done by the government to protect its citizens.

The U.S. sent troops last month to the West African nation to help advise its military on the fight against insecurity.

By Dyepkazah Shibayan, AP

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EFCC chair seeks strong whistleblower protection law amid reprisal in Nigeria

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has urged the National Assembly to enact strong legislation to protect whistleblowers and strengthen transparency in the fight against corruption amid widespread reprisal in Nigeria.

According to a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, Mr Olukoyede made the call on Thursday in Calabar, Cross River State, during a nationwide sensitisation programme on the implementation of Nigeria’s whistleblowing policy.

Speaking on the theme, “Benefits of the Whistleblowing Policy in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria,” Mr Olukoyede stressed the need for a strong legal framework that would shield whistleblowers from victimisation and remove bureaucratic obstacles that delay access to financial rewards promised under the policy.

“I reiterate that we need a robust Act of the National Assembly to protect those who risk their lives to disclose corruption in this country,” he said.

The EFCC chair noted that only a few countries within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have enacted whistleblower protection laws.

“I find it depressing that in a region where deeply rooted corruption undermines development efforts, only Ghana and Senegal have enacted whistleblower protection laws,” he said.

Mr Olukoyede was represented at the event by the acting Uyo Zonal Director of the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, Oshodi Johnson.

Mr Johnson said the whistleblowing policy should motivate citizens to expose corruption primarily to prevent the theft of public funds rather than solely for financial rewards.

“The appeal here is that citizens should be more interested in whistleblowing that prevents the stealing of public funds rather than focusing on recovery, because once funds are looted, they may never be fully recovered,” he said.

He also urged lawmakers to domesticate provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), particularly Article 33, which provides measures for protecting individuals who report corruption.

Background

Nigeria introduced its whistleblowing policy in 2016 to encourage citizens to report corruption and financial misconduct.

Under the programme, whistleblowers are entitled to between 2.5 and 5 per cent of recovered funds. The policy recorded early success in 2017 when a tip led to the discovery of about $43 million in cash in an apartment in Lagos.

However, analysts say the programme still lacks a comprehensive legal framework to protect whistleblowers from retaliation.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that whistleblowers in Nigeria and 13 other West African countries face severe risks, including harassment, job loss, and even death, due to the absence of comprehensive legal frameworks to shield them.

The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) Coordinator, Chido Onumah, described whistleblowers as “endangered species” across the region because of their relevance to the fight against corruption.

In the absence of legal protection, Mr Onumah said, whistleblowers face all kinds of retaliation ranging from stigmatisation and discrimination, dismissal from place of work, criminal sanctions and death in extreme cases for daring to take what is obviously a delicate conscious action.

Of the 15 member states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), only Ghana has implemented legislation to protect whistleblowers.

The rest of the countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo – either lack or have insufficient legal protection for whistleblowers.

Mr Onumah said though many of these countries have adopted the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) but their lackadaisical attitude towards having a law has brought harm to many.

“We totally agree with the ECOWAS Commission that one of the best ways of giving them cover is for member states to provide a comprehensive legal framework through the whistleblowing legislation for disclosure of information and protection against any retaliation as a result of making disclosure,” he noted.

In Nigeria, many whistleblowers frequently face job termination or harassment after revealing corruption or workplace infractions, which contributed to the urgent need for legal protection.

Also, AFRICMIL has raised the alarm over an alleged attempt by officers of the Nigeria Police Force, Zone 7 Headquarters in Abuja, to abduct whistleblower Yisa Usman from his residence on 16 July 2025.

The statement said Mr Usman, a former deputy director at JAMB, was sacked after exposing alleged procurement fraud and administrative malpractices within the agency.

Mr Onumah stated that the former deputy director has reportedly faced a string of reprisals including termination of his appointment, criminal charges, and threats to his life.

However, in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, AFRICMIL renewed calls for a whistleblower protection law after Nigerian whistleblower Mr Usman received international recognition as the closest runner-up for the Ellsberg Whistleblower Award in Berlin, Germany.

Mr Usman was recognised for exposing alleged violations of public financial management procedures and recruitment irregularities within the examination body.

AFRICMIL said Mr Usman could not attend the award ceremony due to alleged reprisals he has faced in Nigeria, including dismissal from public service, legal battles and threats to his safety.

The organisation therefore urged the Nigerian government to urgently enact a whistleblower protection law to safeguard individuals who disclose wrongdoing in the public interest.

Participants at the EFCC event included representatives of anti-corruption agencies, lawmakers, security agencies, and other stakeholders involved in Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts.

By Emmanuel Agbo. Premium Times