It was an exciting evening on Saturday, April 9, 2016 as staff of pan-African financial services group, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc gathered at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Nigeria, to celebrate the bank’s staff that have performed exceptionally well in the 2015 financial year.

It is a tradition that the bank has maintained since 2008 and this was the eighth edition since its inception. As usual, it lived up to its reputation as a night of glamour and glitz as bankers let down their conservative mien and turned up in a “party” mood to celebrate their colleagues that have excelled in the just concluded financial year.

The theme of the night was “The Evolution of UBA” and was aimed at celebrating UBA’s rich history as one of the biggest and dominant banks through the ages from its inception in 1949.

Using dance drama headlined by top Nollywood stars like Segun Arinze, Norbert Young, Ireti Doyle, and Gideon Okeke, they highlighted the men and women, who have made UBA what it is today, Its landmark heritage building on 57 Marina, contributions across Africa and its foot print across Africa in 19 countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, Cameroon, Kenya, Gabon, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Mozambique, Senegal, Congo DR and Congo Brazzaville as well as in the key global financial centres of New York, London and Paris.

The multicultural diversity of the UBA group was on full display as board chairmen and the managing directors of the UBA subsidiaries in all its 18 countries of operations outside Nigeria were also present at the event.

There were 16 different categories of awards given out to staff, business offices, country subsidiaries and strategic business units on the night. Specific areas covered by the awards include; profitability, deposit growth in Nigeria and Africa, most improved country or regional bank in mobilization, digital banking adoption, customer service, compliance rating and support services.

But the highlight of the awards was the “GMD’s Special Award” for a staff that has performed exceptionally in his or her assigned duties in 2015. This is an award won by the best of the best in the UBA Group and the staff must have displayed a positive attitude to work and colleagues, maturity in handling the bank’s internal and external customers, commitment, knowledge of the bank’s operations and offerings, integrity, which is a core value of the bank and a high level of productivity.

The night also experienced high level performance from Nigeria’s top musical stars. Staff took to the dance floor as they experienced back to back electrifying performances from the Alert Master, Koredo Bello, Koko Master, De Banj, the gorgeous Yemi Alade, as well as a sensational Dr Sid.

Also on stage to crack the ribs of the audience with jokes was “Basket Mouth.” This was a night of intense fun as staff danced and laughed for a greater part of the night without any consideration for the stress that usually comes with their job.

Speaking during the awards ceremony, Phillips Oduoza, Group Managing Director and CEO of UBA Plc described the UBA CEO awards as the most exciting event in UBA operational calendar.

“This is the night we honour members of our staff who have come to represent everything we stand for as an organization. The staff, departments and business units that receive awards this night are hardworking, articulate and always willing to go the extra mile to achieve the targets we set for ourselves at the beginning of every financial year as a bank” Oduoza said.

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, with operations in 19 African countries and 3 global financial centres: London, Paris and New York.

From a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, UBA has emerged as a pan-African provider of banking and other financial services, to more than 10 million customers, through close to 1000 branches and touch points globally