There are chapters in our shared history that I know have left some painful marks,” King Charles said during a state banquet to welcome the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, to the UK, in a year in which the monarch is expected to come under renewed pressure to make a formal apology for transatlantic slavery and colonialism.
But while demands grow from African and Caribbean nations for the UK to further reparative justice, Nigeria and the UK are looking to the future of global trade.
Tinubu’s state visit last week is being celebrated as a return to the world stage for Africa’s largest economy. Tinubu is the first Nigerian president to receive a UK state visit in 37 years, and only the second African leader in history to be received at Windsor Castle, after Liberia’s William Tubman in 1962.
This new chapter in the two countries’ relationship, which is rooted in colonial history, promises to help the UK’s ailing steel industry while furthering Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional superpower.
At the state banquet, the king told Tinubu: “The many dynamic connections between our two nations have deep roots and yet I do not pretend that those roots are without a shadow … I do not seek to offer words that dissolve the past, for no words can.
“But I do believe, as I know you believe, Mr President, that history is not merely a record of what was done to us: it is a lesson in how we go forward together to continue building a future rooted in hope and growth for all, and worthy of those who bore the pains of the past.”
A deal in which the UK guarantees a £746m loan to refurbish two of Nigeria’s trading ports is one way cooperation between Nigeria and the UK can build a new future, independent of the debate about reparative justice. The issue of reparations is expected be discussed at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting this year.
Nigeria also wants to diversify global partnerships and shift from its economic dependency on oil. It aims to be the dominant maritime hub for west and central Africa, which is rich in strategic mineral resources and has huge potential for consumer market growth.
However, Lagos’s seaports are creaking – which is where UK financing comes in. As part of the ports deal, Nigeria will direct at least £236m in contracts to British suppliers, including £70m for the loss-making British Steel, which the UK government took control of last year.
In one of its biggest-ever contracts, British Steel will supply 120,000 tonnes of steel billets to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, cooperation, investment and partnerships in the fintech, creative and higher education sectors have been announced.
Nigeria’s Zenith Bank is opening a Manchester branch, while the Fidelity Bank and fintech companies LemFi, Kuda and Moniepoint are expanding their UK operations.
There will also be state cooperation on customs and irregular migration. Nigeria and the EU are also strengthening ties.
At the banquet, King Charles said the UK was “blessed that so many people of Nigerian heritage … are now at the heart of British life through excelling at the highest levels” . About 270,000 people, or 0.5% of the population of England and Wales, recorded their ethnic group as Nigerian in the last census.
Among the guests at the banquet were the England rugby captain Maro Itoje and his wife, Mimi, the Olympic 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu, the former Lioness and football pundit Eni Aluko, and the UK’s first black female Michelin-starred chef, Adejoké Bakare.
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