President Bola Ahmed Tinubu briefly stumbled during a ceremonial march-past in his honour at the Turkish presidential palace on Tuesday, an incident that drew attention but did not disrupt the day’s proceedings.
The 73-year-old leader tripped while walking to his left after inspecting a guard of honour alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Video footage shared by Turkish digital news outlet Nefes Gazetesi and later circulated widely on social media showed the moment clearly: Tinubu lost his footing, fell briefly, and was quickly helped up by aides. Within 45 seconds, he was back on his feet and standing beside Erdoğan as the ceremony continued.
Aides confirmed the president was “very fine” and proceeded without delay to a scheduled closed-door bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart. The reception, which began around 5:00 pm local time, included national anthems, a 21-gun salute, and formal greetings.
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The visit to Ankara is Tinubu’s first official trip to Turkey since taking office in 2023. It follows President Erdoğan’s visit to Nigeria in October 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. The agenda focuses on deepening diplomatic, economic, and security cooperation between the two countries, with discussions expected on defence collaboration, trade, energy, and technology transfer. Several Memoranda of Understanding are anticipated to be signed during the trip.
Tinubu arrived at Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 9:03 pm local time on Monday, where he was received by a Turkish delegation led by Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin, along with senior officials from the Nigerian mission, including Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Zayyad Abdulsalam.
Accompanying the president are a number of senior ministers and advisers, including Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Finance Minister Wale Edun, Solid Minerals Minister Dele Alake, Defence Minister General Christopher Musa (retd), Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Women Affairs Minister Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, Innovation Minister Kingsley Udeh, House Committee on Defence Chairman Babajimi Benson, Special Adviser on Policy Communication Daniel Bwala, and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed.
The incident is not the first time Tinubu has stumbled in public. In June 2024, he tripped during a public event in Nigeria and later joked about it, saying some people thought he was performing a popular dance move. An aide described it as a “mild misstep” at the time, while opposition politician Atiku Abubakar offered sympathy, calling it an “unfortunate incident.” Another politician, Shehu Sani, remarked that it showed the president was human like everyone else.
The stumble quickly spread across social media, sparking widespread discussion and concern among Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. However, aides stressed that the president was unharmed and continued with his full schedule.
The visit is seen as an opportunity to strengthen long-standing relations between Nigeria and Turkey, particularly in trade, defence, construction, education, and technical services. Turkey has become an increasingly important partner for Nigeria, with growing investment in infrastructure and security sectors.
Tinubu’s office described the trip as focused on “consolidating long-standing relations while identifying new areas of cooperation that would deliver mutual benefits.” No further details have been released about the bilateral talks or the president’s health beyond the aide’s reassurance.
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