On Saturday Sep 24th, 2016, the Nigerian community in UK organised an award dinner ceremony to honour 56 uncelebrated Nigerians in five different categories as part of Nigeria’s 56th independence anniversary.

I was proud to be nominated for the award and was really honoured to receive the Uncelebrated Nigerians Award for contribution to Legal, Security & Law enforcement.

In my acceptance speech, i dedicated the award to Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals and Queers in Nigeria and diaspora. Every Nigerian deserves to be free from discrimination regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBT Rights are Human Rights.

As I have always maintained as coordinator of Nigerian LGBT in diaspora against Anti same sex law, and in my book- Freedom To Love For All: Homosexuality Is Not UnAfrican :

“Every Nigerian deserves the same right as every other Nigerian, irrespective of class, sex, race, gender identity or sexual orientation. Consensual adults do not deserve to have their love criminalized. Let us spread Love, not Hate.”

The theme of the award was: Recognising and Honouring Nigerian Heroes who have excelled in numerous fields of endeavour

In his speech, Ayo Akinfe, Coordinator, organising committee, Uncelebrated Nigerians Awards said:

This event, the Uncelebrated Nigerians Awards, UK is not just another occasion as for the first time in our history, unheralded, honest toiling Nigerians in the UK are being recognised for the contribution to society. These unsung heroes, or silent stars if you like, work across all sectors of the economy including local government, the National Health Service, education, the civil service, entertainment, the media, etc, contributing immensely to Britain’s gross domestic product.

These 56 awardees who have distinguished themselves quietly nail the myth that everything about Nigeria is bad or that all we have to offer the world is violence, insecurity, fraud, dishonesty, 419ners, drug dealers and criminals.

No one sees these silent stars, no one recognises their toil and sacrifice but everyone sees the Boko Haram terrorist, the advanced fee fraud criminal and the Fulani herdsmen armed with AK47, Let the clarion call go out from here today, that we are an embodiment of honest, hardworking, good, toiling and decent people.

Very succinctly put, I must say.

The award dinner ceremony was a night of good entertainment, yummy Nigerian food, good music, nice comedy and overall great atmosphere. It was a very well organised and successful event. Kudos to the Uncelebrated Nigerian Awards organising committee for their hard work and dedication in organising this successful event. Thank you for finding me worthy to receive the award.