By Bolaji Oyegunle, London DIASPORA umbrella body, the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk) is expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to attend its end of year dinner on December 6 in what should be his first official visit to Britain since being sworn-in.
Created as a mother association to all Nigerian organisations in the UK, Canuk is planning to hold an annual end of year dinner at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Central London to celebrate Nigerians during the course of 2015. Planned to be a posh black tie event, the dinner will be hosted by the acting High Commissioner Ambassador Olakunle Bamgbose.
The event will feature live entertainment too with prominent Nigerian artists in the UK including Deoba Authentic, Dazzling Daizy, MC Mark, the West End theatre cast of The Gods Are Not to Blame, youthful dance groups and guest artists from Nigeria all performing.
Ronke Adeagbo, Canuk’s treasurer and the chair of the organising committee, said: “This event is being organised to celebrate Canuk delegates, their organisations and all Nigerians in the UK. We have a thriving community in which a lot of us have excelled and we believe that the hardworking diasporan should be recognised and celebrated as a role model.
“There are about 2m Nigerians in the UK with many of them having reached the very pinnacle of their professional careers. We need to shout more about these achievements and this event will provide us with an ideal platform to showcase ourselves and our achievements.”
Last week, Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo was in the UK for an energy summit and met with Canuk officials, promising them that either the president or himself would make the dinner if they could. President Buhari is yet to visit the UK since being sworn-in as Nigeria’s president although he did pass through briefly just after being elected.
Traditionally, Britain has always been a regular stumping ground for Nigerian Presidents and plays hosts to an annual Honourary International Investments Council (HICC) summit. Founded by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, the HIIC is aimed at attracting more foreign direct investment into Nigeria and is attended by either the president or vice president.
