President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday briefly stumbled during a ceremonial march-past organized for his reception at a parade ground in Türkiye.
The incident occurred as the President joined the guard of honour, drawing momentary attention before the programme continued without disruption.
A video shared on X by Turkish digital news platform, Nefes Gazetesi, showed President Tinubu walking alongside his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, before he momentarily lost his footing and stumbled.
He was immediately assisted by members of the Secret Service, after which the ceremony proceeded as scheduled.
Tuesday’s reception began at about 5:00 p.m. local time with the simultaneous rendition of the national anthems of Nigeria and Türkiye, followed by a ceremonial 21-gun salute.
After the formalities, both leaders retired into a closed-door bilateral meeting, where discussions on issues of strategic national importance were expected to take place.
The visit marks President Tinubu’s first official trip to the European nation and comes as a reciprocal engagement following President Erdoğan’s visit to Nigeria in October 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Nigeria and Türkiye are expected to hold strategic political and diplomatic engagements focused on shared interests in finance, communication, trade and investment.
He added that the visit would also feature the signing of memoranda of understanding in areas including energy, scientific research, technical cooperation, media, military collaboration and protocol.
A business forum is also expected to be held on the sidelines of the visit to strengthen economic ties between both countries.
