When did Queen Elizabeth visit Nigeria?
The timing is right to start looking back at the times the Queen visited Nigeria because she passed away yesterday, Thursday, September 8th 2022, at the age of 96.
Who is the Queen of England?
The Queen of England is the ruler of the United Kingdom and the other commonwealth nations. During the British rule of Nigeria, Queen Elizabeth served as a monarch until the end of the Republic in 1963. She performed ceremonial duties in her capacity as the head of state of colonized Nigeria.
How many times did Queen Elizabeth visit Nigeria?
Queen Elizabeth visited Nigeria twice. She came to Nigeria for the first time in 1956 as part of her royal tour to Commonwealth countries, from January 28 to February 16.
There was a lot of ceremony around her entrance. Sir James Robertson, the governor-general, Festus Okotie-Eboh, the then-minister of Labour and Welfare, as well as many other heads of state and traditional authorities welcomed her at the airport.
She landed at Lagos State, which served as the previous capital. A Rolls Royce was used to transport her. She visited Lagos and many other destinations as part of a royal trip. Additionally, she went to Northern Nigeria where she met with the Sultan of Sokoto. The Queen also visited Kaduna, Enugu, Jos, Kano, and Kaduna.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which took place from December 3–6, 2003, was the occasion of her second visit to Nigeria.
The 18th meeting of the Commonwealth’s leaders of state and government took place in 2003.
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s then-president, hosted the event in Abuja. She came with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh.
The conflict during the Commonwealth meeting was the crisis in Zimbabwe over Secretary-General Don McKinnon’s re-election. Robert Mugabe declared that Zimbabwe was leaving the Commonwealth just before the gathering ended.
Even though many countries were declaring independence at the time she ascended the throne (1953), the Queen always expressed love for the Commonwealth countries.
