Why Tinubu is on a state visit to Saint Lucia

Tinubu

By JAMIU JAMODU

In the wake of some Nigerians’ misguided, mischievous, and uninformed comments regarding President Bola Tinubu’s historic state visit to Saint Lucia, it is necessary to clarify the purpose of the visit.

First, from the perspective of the Government of Saint Lucia, the visit by the Nigerian leader paves the way for the rekindling of our ancestral bonds, igniting a new era of diplomatic, cultural, and economic possibilities between our nations.

Like many Caribbean nations, Saint Lucia has a significant population of African ancestry. In the mid-19th century, a wave of immigrants from present-day Nigeria arrived in Saint Lucia, bringing cultural and religious practices that persist today.

Citizens of Saint Lucia are excited that President Tinubu has chosen to visit the island. They long to strengthen their bonds with African nations with which they share ancestral links.

Saint Lucia is the headquarters of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the gateway to the 15 CARICOM member states. The CARICOM states have a combined GDP of over $130 billion, a significant figure in South-South trade discourse.

In an era of global uncertainty, deepening cooperation between the Global South, particularly between continental Africa and the Caribbean, has become imperative.

Nigeria and the citizens of the Caribbean have strong people-to-people links.

Sir Darnley Alexander, a Saint Lucian-born jurist who died on February 10, 1989, served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1975 to 1979. He first came to Nigeria in 1957, recruited as a legal draftsman by the Western Regional Government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He became the acting Director of Public Prosecutions in 1958. In 1960, he was appointed Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the Western Regional Ministry of Justice. In 1964, he was appointed a judge in the Lagos High Court. In 1969, the defunct South Eastern State appointed him the chief judge.