Coronation: Meet Nigerians who were pivotal in the crowning of King Charles III

The coronation ceremony of Charles III as the King of United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms took place of Saturday, May 6.

For the first time in seven decades, a new British monarch has been crowned.

The ceremony was interestingly inconclusive as it included several influential figures at the coronation ceremony. News Round The Clock (NRTC) gathered that several British-Nigerians were intensely involved in the ceremonies by virtue of their positions.

ALSO READ: Coronation: Crown Bestowed upon King Charles at Westminster Abbey (Photos)

See some influential figures below.

1. Rev. Tosin Oladipo

Rev. Tosin is the Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He’s also the chaplain at Lambeth Palace chapel and at the community of St Anselm at Lambeth Palace.

Tosin entered the priesthood after a successful career in Information Technology (IT).

He is the son of Rev. Emmanuel Oladipo who spent most of his career for the gospel in Northern Nigeria.

The senior Oladipo was later appointed Secretary General of the Scripture Union worldwide.

Tosin was there in the normal course of his duties, and integral to proceedings.

2. Dame Elizabeth Anionwu

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, a nurse, professor and medical scholar. She was the first nurse in the United Kingdom to specialize in the care of sickle cell patients.

She is the daughter of a Nigerian late Lawrence Anionwu of Onitsha, first Perm Sec in Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 1960-1963 and also Nigeria’s first Ambassador to Italy and the Vatican, 1964-‘67, and a British mother, Mary Furlong, born in 1947.

Lawrence Anionwu died in 1980 in UK; buried in Nigeria.

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu was part of the peers that bore the royal insignias into the Abbey sanctuary.

3. Eva Omaghomi

Ewa Omaghomi is King Charles’s Director of Community Engagement from when he was still Prince of Wales.

Prior to that, she worked with him at The Prince’s Trust and Clarence House.

She was originally a civil servant with the Greater London Authority.

Equally, Ewa worked with the King for the past 15 yrs from when he was prince.

She was present basically as a senior aide of the King and did not play any role in the ceremonies.

4. Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa, OBE

At the coronation on Saturday, Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa was just a member of the welcome party and was there in his role as the High Bailiff of the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey.

The High Bailiff is rather honorific with largely ceremonial roles in the Abbey.

He is also the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London i.e. the kings personal representative in the City.

72-year-old Ken Olisa is born of a Nigerian father from Onitsha.

5. Peaches Golding

Lois Patricia Golding OBE CStJ, commonly known as Peaches Golding, is an American-British business executive, administrator, and former academic who is Lord-Lieutenant of the County and City of Bristol.

It is important to note that Golding is an African American with no direct Nigerian heritage.

She’s a denizen of 1970s Ibadan and English teacher at Loyola College.

She’s now Lord Lieutenant of Bristol.

In Ibadan, she met and got married the Bristolian, Bob Golding.

Bob was at the time Manager of the University of Ibadan Zoo. He died at 80 in 2022.

They settled in Bristol at the end of Bob’s 16 year ‘stint’ in Ibadan.

She was present at the ceremony in her role as Lord Lieutenant of Bristol.

It would be recalled that King Charles III had taken his Coronation oath.

The King and Queen Camilla had the Abbey to the choral music for today’s ceremony was performed by the Choir of Westminster Abbey.