Canuk to honour outstanding associations at its December end-of -year gala dinner

MEMBER organisations of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk) who have excelled in the delivery of services to their members will be handed out special awards at this year's gala dinner taking place on December 16.

In a first-such awards ceremony of its kind, Canuk will be honouring and recognising associations in four different categories for their work. They include best regional association of the year,  best state-based association of the year, best cultural association of the year and best professional association of the year.

There will then be a special award for the Canuk association president of the year, which will go to whoever has been deemed the best leader of any member organisation. Shortlists of three will be drawn up in each category shortly before December 16 and published, with the actual winners announced on the night.

To make the process transparent, Canuk has asked all of its member organisations to nominate associations and individuals. Once nominations are in, the Canuk executive committee will then vote on the winners and the victors will be handed special plaques on the night of December 16.

Canuk general secretary Abidemi Bada, said: "As part of a drive to appreciate the hard work many volunteers do in the community, the Canuk executive committee has decided to hand out five special awards this year. We have come up with five categories in which special awards will be handed out on the night, which include best regional association of the year, best state-based association of the year, best cultural association of the year, best professional association of the year and the Canuk association president of the year.

"We shall be sending out nomination forms to all out member organisations, which must be filed in and returned to Canuk by no later than Thursday November 30. To be eligible for nomination, an association must be a fully paid-up member of Canuk and all completed forms must be emailed to info@canukonline.com."

Toyin Balogun, Canuk's social secretary added: "December 16 will be a night of fun, entertainment and merriment but it will also be a time to build on what we are doing in Canuk.  What makes this event unique is that all our member associations from all different parts of the country will be booking tables and bringing their members to London for the day."

Victor Aleva, the Canuk financial secretary urged everyone who wants to purchase tickets to do so by paying directly into the Canuk bank account. He added that they should do this pay making payments into the association's Lloyds Bank account with the sort code of 301553 and account number 00224400.