The King, the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and Mr and Mrs Tinubu will then travel in a carriage procession in a show of traditional pomp and pageantry through Windsor to the castle’s quadrangle to see the Guard of Honour for the ceremonial welcome.
Thames Valley Police said extensive security measures are being deployed in the Berkshire town, as the event takes place against an international backdrop of the deepening Middle East crisis.
The president and the first lady arrived in the UK on Tuesday on a Nigerian air force flight, and were met at Stansted Airport by Mark Bevan, the deputy lieutenant of Essex, on behalf of the King.
Their visit went ahead despite suicide bombings in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno state on Monday, which killed 23 people and injured more than 100. Mr Tinubu condemned the “evil-minded” terror groups and said he mourned those who lost their lives, saying “Nigeria will not succumb to fear”.
The last Nigerian state visit to the UK was in 1989, when Elizabeth II welcomed Gen Ibrahim Babangida, the military ruler, to London.
This time, the two-day visit falls at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, during which many Muslims fast and refrain from eating or drinking between dawn and sunset.
The programme has been specially adapted, and the King will receive the president during an audience in the afternoon instead of hosting the usual welcome lunch.
In 1928, Charles’s great-grandfather King George V hosted King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan, for a three-day state visit from March 13-15, when Ramadan fell between Feb 22 and March 22 that year.
There are no known records showing whether or not King Amanullah observed Ramadan.
Mr Tinubu will break his fast privately at sunset on Wednesday before joining the King and Queen for the night-time state banquet.
The first lady, who is known as Remi, is a Christian and an ordained Pentecostal pastor.
Eid-al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, begins on Thursday evening, when the president and his wife will leave the UK.
The King will also join the president and first lady in the castle’s Vicars’ Hall to meet organisations working on interfaith dialogue on Wednesday.
The Nigerian leader’s stay, aimed at strengthening the UK’s position as a global hub for African business, coincides with the Department for Business and Trade’s announcement that hundreds of new jobs are to be created as a series of Nigerian companies scale up their operations in the UK.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
