Bishop of Guildford Meets Nigerian President

Published on: 14 May, 2016
Updated on: 16 May, 2016

Bishop of Guildford with Nigerian President

The Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Andrew Watson, met with Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari yesterday (May 13) to discuss the link between the Diocese of Guildford and the Anglican Church in Nigeria.

The meeting took place at Lambeth Palace at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, after the Nigerian President’s attendance at an anti-corruption summit in London yesterday.

Bishop Andrew said: “It was an honour to meet with President Buhari and to share in a warm and informal conversation about some of the opportunities and challenges facing Nigeria at this time.

“It’s clear how much the president has appreciated Archbishop Justin’s support over his trip to England, and good to be able to let him know about the long-term partnership that has existed between the Diocese of Guildford and the Anglican Church in Nigeria.

“In that link, though we acknowledge our very different challenges as churches, it gives us the opportunity to pray for and encourage each other and to learn from one another’s strengths and struggles in our common commitment to Jesus Christ.

“The context of President Buhari’s visit – to commit to battling global corruption together – sets a very good example for this, and I will be praying for fruitful outcomes of that conference, and of the Church of England’s ties with the Province of Nigeria.”

President Buhari was applauded by Lambeth Palace staff as he entered, before signing the visitor’s book. The president and the archbishop then met privately for about an hour.

The Diocese of Guildford has been linked in partnership with the Church of Nigeria since 1963, born out of the Anglican Conference in Toronto in 1963 and formalised in 1964 in Guildford and with the Church of the Province of West Africa in January 1965 in Onitsha.

The link is one of the oldest partnerships in the Church of England, and the Anglican Church in Nigeria is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.