The late Queen Elizabeth of Britain backed Nigeria during the bloody Nigerian Biafra Civil war that left many dead.
President Muhammadu Buhari made this revelation during the weekend while mourning the passing of the monarch.
The president spoke during a condolence visit to the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing,at her residence in Abuja on Saturday.
Buhari said "we have maintained very close ties with the monarch.she was a very gracious and elegant queen. For the purpose of remembrance, the fact is that 90 per cent of Nigerias do not know any monarch in the UK other than the queen.we welcome the new King and we look forward to a strong working relationship with the UK."
"They have been a very strong ally even in the midst of our difficult time during the Biafra war they stood for the indivisibility of the Nigerian states, supported and ensured that we overcame that problem. We are partnering to deal with the insurgence so that it doesn't overwhelm us. Thay have always stood as a strong ally."
Buhari added, "The head of the Common Wealth to which we belong. Not only that, she was the head of state for three years from 1960 to 1963 and when we became a republic she ceased to be.
We have had very close ties with the queen.she visited the country twice first in 1953 when she spent about 20 days visiting different towns, and the second one was in 2003 during president Olusegun Obasanjo's ternur."