The Nigerian Association (Hamilton-Wentworth and District), hereafter referred to as the Association, shall be governed by the following by-laws.
Article 1: Location
The main office of the Association shall be located in the Hamilton region in the province of Ontario, Canada.
Article 2: Philosophy and Membership
Art. 2.1.1: The Association is, and shall remain a non-political association with regard to the political activities in, and of Nigeria.
Art. 2.1.2: Discussions of Nigerian political issues shall not be brought into the, or allowed in the general sessions or committee sessions of the Association.
Art. 2.1.3: Tribal, ethnic, or regional biases or preferences are not welcome topics, and shall not be encouraged or allowed in any of, and in all the sessions of the Association.
Art. 2.2.1: The Association recognizes the varying and clashing schools of thought in the issue of prayers. Therefore members who wish to pray at our meetings are free to do so while others are equally allowed to abstain from prayer sessions.
Art. 2.3.1: The Association is open to and shall remain open to all peoples who have genuine interest in the enhancement of the lot of Nigerians and of peoples of Nigerian heritage in the Canadian mosaic.
Article 3: Administration
The primary administration of the Association shall consist of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.
Art. 3.0.1: Each of the members of the primary administration of the Association shall be affirmed by election.
(The first general election shall be conducted in the Fall of 2000 AD, and the elected members of that general election shall take their positions in the primary administration of the Association in the Spring of 2001 AD).
Art. 3.1.1: Each position shall be for a session of one year.
Art. 3.1.2: A person can be re-elected for a second term of office. No one shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.
(The details of election procedure shall be as itemized in the continuously current publication, ELECTION –Nigerian Association (Hamilton-Wentworth and District).
Art. 3.2.1: The President shall chair the general meeting sessions of the Association.
Art. 3.2.2: The Vice-President shall be the deputy to the President. In the event of the unavailability of the President, the Vice-President shall be the acting President. The Vice-President shall automatically become the President in the event of any occurrence that causes a vacancy in the presidency, and shall complete the term of office of the presidency. The Vice-President may, in this case, seek a two-consecutive-term election to the presidency of the Association.
Art. 3.2.3: The Secretary shall take and keep the records of the sessions of the Association.
Art. 3.2.4: The Treasurer shall collect the funds of and the monetary donations made to the Association, and shall keep them in a fashion that has been approved by the Association.
The Treasurer shall keep a book or books of financial transactions for the Association. The Treasurer shall also issue receipts for, and keep a book of receipts for the financial transactions made on behalf of the Association. The Treasurer shall, at every general meeting of the Association and at other times so deemed necessary, produce all the records of the financial transactions of the Association.
Article 4: Judiciary
Art. 4.1.1: The Senate shall be the Executive Committee of the Association.
Art. 4.1.2: The Senate shall be the final arbiter of a judiciary matter.
Art. 4.1.3: The Senate shall consist of not more than seven members.
Art. 4.1.4: No current member of the primary administration may be a member of the Senate.
Art. 4.1.5: A former member of the primary administration may be appointed to the Senate after that member has remained active for a minimum of one year following the term of office of the member.
Art. 4.1.6a: Appointments into the Senate shall be made from only current members who have functioned in the Association for a minimum of one year.
Art. 4.1.6b: Appointments and confirmation shall be done in a manner that shall be established by the full membership, and that shall remain consistent.
Alternate Art. 4.1.6b: All members of the Senate shall have become members by a process that includes the recommendation of a member of the Association, and a support of not less than seventy-five percent (75 %) of the members in the voting session.
Art.4.1.7: The Chair of the Senate shall not vote on an issue that shall be brought before the Senate for the first time. At the time that the Chair votes, the Chair shall be entitled to cast a vote that breaks a tie in the event that there is a tie in the vote that shall have included the Chair’s.
Art. 4.1.8: Membership in the Senate shall be for a renewable term of four years.
Article 5: The articles of this by-law may need to be changed or modified in response to the changes that accompany times and seasons. The responsibility for making such changes or modifications shall lie in the hands and on the consciences of the members that shall effect such changes or modifications.
Charter:
The Nigerian Association (Hamilton-Wentworth and District) is a non-profit organization that was established on February 27, 1999.
The Nigerian Association (Hamilton-Wentworth and District) shall hereafter be referred to as the Association.
The Association was established to provide an environment for members of the Nigerian heritage to comfortably involve in community growth.
Forefront in the goals of the Association is the creation and the maintenance of an atmosphere that encourages and enables the pursuit of in areas of excellence in areas of progressive endeavor.
The Association has a commitment to encourage and to assist the youth of its community in embracing the progressive thoughts of the Association’s heritage and in the pursuit of academics and creativity.
Included in the goals of the Association is the provision of emotional support for the members of the community that may have such a need.
The Association shall encourage the development of the virtues –cultural, social, technical or otherwise – of its heritage for the growth of the individual and of the community, and for the enhancement of the Canadian mosaic.
The Association shall be free of all and any religious, cultural, ethnic, and regional bias.
The Association shall refrain from establishing or participating in any movement in favor of or against any political, religious, regional, tribal, or sectional institution or group in Nigeria or for Nigeria.
The primary geographic regions that are encompassed in the activities of the Association are the Hamilton-Wentworth region and the surroundings which include Burlington, Oakville, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Grimsby-St. Catherine.
Membership in the Association is open to all peoples of Nigerian heritage.
The Association is, however, open for membership to people from other regions and backgrounds who are committed to abiding by the guiding principles and the established goals of the Association.
The center of activities and the headquarters of the Association shall be in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
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BYE LAW AND CHARTER 
