President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to Saint Lucia has been described by the Nigerian Presidency as a strategic move rooted in cultural, historical, political, and economic imperatives, aimed at deepening South-South cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the visit holds profound significance, especially for Saint Lucia, where many citizens share ancestral ties with Africa—tracing back to waves of Nigerian immigrants who arrived on the island in the 19th century. The visit is being celebrated as a rekindling of heritage and a fresh beginning for diplomatic, cultural, and economic engagement.
Saint Lucia, the headquarters of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and a gateway to the 15-member CARICOM bloc with a combined GDP exceeding $130 billion, offers immense economic prospects for Nigeria under its South-South diplomacy agenda. The Presidency emphasized the importance of the visit within the framework of Nigeria’s Four D’s foreign policy—Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography.
Historic connections between both nations run deep. A notable example is Sir Darnley Alexander, a Saint Lucian-born jurist who served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1975 to 1979. His legacy includes landmark judicial service in Nigeria and contributions from his family, including his son, who served as a frontline medical doctor during the Nigerian Civil War. Another Lucian, Neville Skeete, was instrumental in designing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s headquarters.
Cultural ties have also flourished. Nigeria’s global cultural influence, through Afrobeats, Nollywood, and literature, is evident in Saint Lucia. On the eve of President Tinubu’s arrival, Nigerian music dominated the airwaves during the famed Gros Islet Street Party—a reflection of Nigeria’s growing soft power.
The Presidency highlighted the alignment between both nations’ democratic values, with Saint Lucia being a stable parliamentary democracy and Nigeria having sustained 26 years of uninterrupted democratic governance. During live coverage of the President’s arrival, local media hailed Tinubu as a “fighter for democracy.”
President Tinubu’s itinerary includes a visit to the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and interactions with Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (TAC) officials deployed in Saint Lucia. These engagements underscore Nigeria’s commitment to educational cooperation and professional knowledge exchange with African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) nations.
In a symbolic gesture to strengthen diaspora ties, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia will host a special reception where President Tinubu will meet with the Nigerian community on the island, further deepening the bond between both countries.
Saint Lucia, which gained independence in 1979, has hosted fewer than ten official state visits, with the last visit by an African leader being that of Nelson Mandela in 1998. Tinubu’s 2025 visit marks a historic moment in Caribbean-African relations.
President Tinubu is also scheduled to address a joint session of the Saint Lucian Parliament at the Sandals Grande Saint Lucian Conference Hall—renamed in honour of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who visited the island in 2003.
The visit, the Presidency concluded, supports the African Union’s Sixth Region agenda, which recognizes the African diaspora as a vital development partner in advancing the continent’s interests globally.
