Sunday Dare, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and public communication, says Nigeria’s renewed engagement with the UK presents an opportunity to reset bilateral relations after years of slow progress.
Tinubu was in the UK for a two-day state visit — the first of
such visit to the UK by a Nigerian leader in 37 years.
Speaking during a televised interview on Sky News, Dare said
although it has taken over a decade for the second phase of cooperation to
materialise, the development remains significant.
“That’s the question most people are asking, but what’s
important is that it is taking place. There’s an opportunity for a reset,” he
said.
Dare said both King Charles III and Tinubu emphasised shared
history, cultural ties, and common challenges in their recent engagements.
“We’ve seen common threads in their speeches — the bond we
share, our cultural ties, but more importantly, the commonwealth, the challenge
that Nigeria should take the front seat in leading the commonwealth,” he added.
“We talk about partnership, we talk about our jurisprudence
growing heavily from the English law, and there are a lot of commonalities.
“We talk about the size, half a million Nigerians are in
this country, so this is an opportunity for a reset, but also for Nigeria, it’s
important, because of the transformational leadership that we have in President
Bola Tinubu, taking Nigeria out of obscurity into the limelight of global
diplomacy.”
Dare also linked Nigeria’s growing global visibility to
Tinubu’s leadership style, describing it as collaborative rather than
confrontational, particularly in relations with the United States.
“We have moved from what would have been a crucial
confrontation to a crucial collaboration, primarily because of President
Tinubu’s style of leadership, working from the backend and reaching out and
making sure that rather than confrontation with America, we can have the
collaboration,” he said.
On US military involvement, Dare defended recent air strikes
targeting insurgent groups, describing them as part of a broader
counterterrorism effort.
“They targeted one of the splinter groups from Boko Haram to
dislodge them. Beyond that, we’ve seen support in logistics and advisory
roles,” he said.
The presidential aide acknowledged a recent suicide bombing
that killed 23 people but said Nigerian forces had responded swiftly.
“The president has said Nigeria will never surrender to
terrorists. Our service chiefs are on ground, and just overnight, dozens of
terrorist leaders were taken out,” Sunday added.
Addressing concerns raised by the US over alleged targeting
of Christian minorities, Dare rejected the claim, describing the crisis as a
broader security challenge.
“Christians have not been deliberately targeted. We are
dealing with transnational terrorism that affects Nigerians irrespective of
religion,” he said.
He attributed Nigeria’s security challenges to instability
in the Sahel region and the proliferation of arms following the collapse of
Libya.
“With porous borders and the flow of weapons, Nigeria is
facing a complex threat that requires strong international partnerships,” he
added.
Dare said a key outcome of the UK visit would be a defence
and security agreement aimed at strengthening cooperation.
“That is why this visit is significant — it goes beyond
diplomacy to concrete security collaboration,” he said.
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