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Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s First Lady and a licensed pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, is scheduled to preach at Lambeth Palace on Thursday, in an engagement that adds a distinctive interfaith dimension to Nigeria’s first state visit to the United Kingdom in nearly four decades.
Oluremi Tinubu is set to preach at services at Lambeth Palace and to meet representatives of the Church of England. The palace, situated on the south bank of the Thames in central London, serves as the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and is the administrative and spiritual headquarters of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Her invitation to preach there is unusual: Tinubu is not an Anglican, and the engagement places her at the center of a Church of England institution while representing a Pentecostal tradition with deep roots in West Africa.
The scheduling coincides with a period of significant internal tension within the Anglican Communion. A rift has emerged between the Church of England and conservative Anglicans, primarily in Africa, over the appointment of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. In response, a conservative group of Anglican leaders met in Abuja this month under the auspices of the Global Anglican Future Conference, which describes itself as a movement of “authentic” Anglicans, and elected Laurent Mbanda, the Archbishop of Rwanda, as their chairman. Neither Lambeth Palace nor the Nigerian presidential delegation has commented publicly on that backdrop.
The presidential couple arrived in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, landing at London Stansted Airport ahead of their scheduled engagements. They are expected to stay at Windsor Castle from March 18 to March 19. Wednesday’s program centered on the formal state ceremonies, including a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Tinubu and the King traveled to Windsor Castle together in the Australian State Coach, with Queen Camilla and the First Lady accompanying them, before a state banquet was held in the evening.
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Thursday’s program includes President Tinubu’s meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as engagements with members of the Nigerian community in the United Kingdom. The First Lady’s Lambeth Palace appearance runs concurrently, making the second day of the visit a parallel track of diplomatic and faith-based engagements.
Oluremi Tinubu, who also holds a seat in the Nigerian Senate, has maintained an active public profile in faith ministry and women’s empowerment programs throughout her husband’s presidency. The Redeemed Christian Church of God, of which she is an ordained pastor, is one of Nigeria’s largest and most internationally active Pentecostal denominations, with congregations across the United Kingdom and a significant presence in London’s Nigerian diaspora community.
The visit unfolds against a broader historical backdrop that both governments have been careful to navigate. A Nigerian court recently ruled that the United Kingdom should pay £420 million to families of miners killed by colonial authorities in 1949. Ongoing debates over the restitution of Nigerian cultural artifacts held by institutions including the British Museum also remain unresolved.
Also absent from the official schedule is the customary meeting between a visiting head of state and the British parliamentary opposition. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who is of Nigerian descent and was raised partly in Nigeria, has repeatedly and publicly criticized the country over corruption and insecurity — a dynamic that has complicated the usual diplomatic formalities.
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Nigeria and the United Kingdom maintain a strong diplomatic relationship, but analysts note the bilateral trade balance has consistently favored Britain.
“We have a good trading relationship with the UK, but if you look at the balance of trade, it has always been in the favour of the UK,” said Samuel Orovwuje, a Nigerian public affairs analyst and member of the African Development Studies Centre, speaking to AFP.
The state visit concludes Thursday evening, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan, after which President and Mrs. Tinubu are scheduled to depart the United Kingdom. No joint statement or bilateral agreement had been announced at the time of publication.
