Post falsely claims Nigerian leader only visited museum during official trip to Qatar

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was in Qatar on a two-day official visit in March 2024. A social media post claimed he was only taken to see a museum, suggesting Qatari leaders did not further engage with him. The post contrasted Tinubu’s visit with that of Nigerian World Trade Organization (WTO) chairwoman Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who met high-profile officials during a subsequent trip to Qatar. But the claim is misleading: although Tinubu did indeed visit a museum, he also had official engagements with the Emir of Qatar and discussed business with the country’s leaders.

“Two Nigerians went to Qatar. One met with the Finance minister. The other was taken to the museum. Unfortunately the ones taken to the Museum is your president. Nobody takes us seriously anymore because of the man running the affairs of this country (sic),” reads a post published on X on March 7, 2024.

Reshared more than 1,800 times, the post features two photos. One shows Okonjo-Iweala with Qatari Finance Minister Ali Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari.

Okonjo-Iweala published the image on her official X account on March 7, 2024 (archived here) while in Qatar.

Her visit was preceded by Tinubu’s who was in the country from March 2-3.

A photo of Tinubu and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani taken during his visit was also included in the misleading post.

Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria’s president in May 2023 following a disputed election that his main rivals said was rigged in his favour.

Months of legal challenges culminated in the country’s Supreme Court validating his victory in October (archived here).

Tinubu’s economic policies have sparked a harsh cost-of-living crisis in Africa’s biggest economy, further fanning existing tensions.

However, the claim that he only saw Qatari museum representatives is misleading.

Official photos

Although Tinubu did visit a museum in Doha, he also met senior Qatari officials (archived here).

Several official photos sent to AFP by the Nigerian presidency showed Tinubu and Qatar’s emir together.

Another image showed the two men having a discussion.

One of the photos sent to AFP by the Nigerian government shows Tinubu with Emir of Qatar

The X account of the emir also published another photo showing him and Tinubu (archived here).

Qatar News Agency, which published the same photo on its website (archived here), reported that the two leaders oversaw the signing of “several agreements” and “memorandums of understanding” (archived here).

They also discussed “ways to develop our relations of friendship and cooperation in a way that enhances common interests and leads to building multiple bilateral partnerships”.

Pre-visit controversy

Before travelling to Qatar in early March, some local media reports erroneously claimed that Qatari authorities had turned down Tinubu’s request for a visit, citing leaked correspondence between Qatar’s embassy in Nigeria and the country’s foreign affairs ministry.

However, the document only showed that Qatar declined a request to hold a “business and investment forum”. It also referred to Tinubu’s visit as “upcoming”.

A screenshot of the leaked document, taken on March 17, 2024

Tinubu’s spokesman Bayo Onanuga insisted Qatari leaders never snubbed the Nigerian president (archived here).