Awards & Honors

What you need to nominate

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Who deserves the award?

Honours recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements. There are always fewer honours than people who deserve them, and because they are rare, they should be reserved for people:

• who have changed things especially by solid, practical achievement;
• whose work has brought distinction to the Tiv nation or enhanced the Tiv's reputation in their area or activity.

If you think your nominee demonstrates one or both of these accomplishments and that their contribution stands out from other people's, please consider nominating them for an honour.

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How do I write a nomination?

The most important thing is to provide evidence of what they've done and how they've made things better for others.

Your nomination form doesn't need to be a work of art – it doesn't matter whether it's typed or handwritten or whether it has pictures. There isn't a right way or a wrong way to write a nomination and it doesn't need to be particularly formal. There's no "right length". Every nomination is different. But your nomination must tell the story of what your candidate has done.

Give examples of how they have demonstrated outstanding quality. Show how your candidate has:

• contributed in a distinctive way to improving the lot of those less able to help themselves
• devoted themselves to sustained and selfless voluntary service
• shown innovation or creativity in delivering lasting results

A good nomination should also describe the difference their contribution has made as vividly and precisely as possible. Try to answer the following questions:

• How were things before they began?
• How are they now?
• What makes your candidate different from others doing the same thing?

Give details to support these claims. Show how your candidate has:

• earned the respect of their peers and become a role model in their field
• produced, perhaps against the odds, sustained achievement which has required moral courage, vision, the ability to make tough choices or determined application and hard work

As long as they are accurate, do not be afraid of using superlatives in citations. Honours exist specifically to recognise superlative achievement. But remember that superlatives without an explanation are just hot air. Take care always to support any assertions with hard evidence. Do not just say that an achievement has had a widespread effect: describe what that effect has been and show why it has been important.