CANUK AGM holds on River Thames on May 21

The umbrella body of UK-based Nigeria Diaspora organisations – the Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom (CANUK), holds its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday May 21 2022.

In an unprecedented break with tradition, the AGM takes place between 11am and 5pm onboard the Golden Sunrise boat along the River Thames. It will sail from Millbank Pier - just opposite Temple underground station in central London. Historically, CANUK has held its AGM at the Nigeria High Commission's premises but of late, was forced to hold virtual meetings due to lockdown precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This time around however, the CANUK Executive Committee has opted to have the AGM “on a boat in true corporate fashion.”

CANUK's 2022 AGM will be sponsored by Providus Bank, who will be processing delegates’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) while opening accounts for them.

The AGM is one of four major events CANUK plans to hold this year. Others include a Nigerian Cultural Day UK that will take place in August, an Independence Day seminar on October 1 and an end-of-the-year gala dinner on Saturday December 17.

CANUK’s General Secretary - Titi Danso, speaking on the partnership with Providus Bank said: "This fits in with our idea of offering a range of goodies to those who are members of CANUK. Going forward, we are looking at offering our members a CANUK-embossed credit card, a BVN, a discounted National Identity Number (NIN), discounted shopping at selected stores and maybe access to a Nigerian drivers licence too."

Olajumoke Ariyo, CANUK's First Vice Chair, added: "It is now compulsory that you have a NIN before you are issued with a Nigerian passport, so CANUK has had to get involved. We are offering all our associations mass registration of their members at £35 each and have decided to extend this package to other areas for everyone who has a CANUK membership card.”

CANUK’s Chair - Ayo Akinfe added: "When we started this journey, there were 35 associations in CANUK but by our end-of-year party last year, we had got that number up to 70. By the AGM we will have 100 member associations and aim to make this 200 by the end of our tenure next year.”

“One way in which we aim to achieve this goal is to launch Operation Alumni next year, whereby we will seek to recruit every single alumni association in the UK. Our Vice Chair (Associations) will be in charge of the operation and we hope that by this time next year, we have recruited at least 50 Nigerian alumni associations in the UK into CANUK."

CANUK was established by the Nigeria High Commission in the United Kingdom in 2005 in recognition of a clear need to unite the various Nigerian groups under one umbrella organisation.