Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here on Sunday to a warm welcome on the first leg of his five-day two-nation visit to Africa that is expected to give a major boost to bilateral relations with Nigeria, the biggest trading partner with India in this region.

Folk dancers in colourful costumes danced to the beat of drums and welcomed Singh, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Nigeria since Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1962 trip to this oil-rich west African nation.

The red carpet was rolled out at the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport for Singh, who was received by Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekew and Indian High Commissioner H H S Viswanathan.

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and Minister of State for Mines T Subbarama Reddy, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry Nalin Surie and Commerce Secretary G K Pillai are accompanying the Prime Minister, besides his wife Gursharan Kaur.