We regret to announce the postponement of the Fatherland Conference in light of the latest British Government health warnings regarding the Coronavirus.
A new date will be agreed with the venue as soon as Government pronouncements signal the end of the crisis.
Vision 2020 Conference
looking back looking forwards
THE BELFRY HOTEL & RESORT
Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B76 9PR
1-3 May 2020
Who Should Attend?
This conference is for those who wish to connect with like minds, beyond online chat groups, to identify practical measures to change the trajectory of our fatherland
About
The Fatherland Group is a global network of forward thinking Nigerians armed with a new understanding of our past, our present and our future.
Conference Programme
Friday
12.00: Registration opens
15:00: Room access
18.30: Welcome address
18.45: Public Speaking Workshop: Speaking to inform, persuade and to inspire
20:00: Cocktail reception
Saturday
07:00 Breakfast service
Looking Back:
09:00 Documentary viewing on the lead up to Independence
09.30 The Legacy of the Class of Independence: What manner of Independence?
11:15 Tea
11.30. The Legacy of the Class of 66: The coups, the War and the uprooting of Democracy.
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13.00 Lunch: Comparative Lessons from India
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Looking Forward: The Class of 2020: Shaping the Legacy for a New Generation
14.00 Economic reform: Information and Communications Technology, power infrastructure, debt, oil, AFTA, unemployment, food and agriculture, education, healthcare and housing
15.45 Tea
16.00 Political reform: rigging, violence, corruption, monetization of politics and electoral litigation.
17.45 Action plan
18.30 Conference Close
20:00 Black-Tie Dinner and Dance
Sunday:
07:00 Breakfast Service
12:00 Departure
networking
The Fatherland Conference is about bringing people together to share, connect, and collaborate. Attendees are change-makers who are focused on transforming Nigeria for the benefit of its citizens at home and in the diaspora. Networking is central to the Fatherland Conference.
SPEAKERS
In December 2009, the Nigerian National Planning Commission published a document titled Vision 2020 Economic Transformation Blueprint which contained the following prediction: “By 2020 Nigeria will be one of the 20 largest economies in the world, able to consolidate its leadership role in Africa and establish itself as a significant player in the global economic and political arena”. Suffice to say that Taiwan presently holds the No.20 position while Nigeria is reported to have become the poverty capital of the world.
This conference will review Nigeria’s performance on all key indices since 2009. More importantly it will identify actions to be taken going forward to put the country back on the right road in terms of security, infrastructure, foreign investments, poverty levels and our general standing in the world.
The Fatherland Conference promises to be an inspirational and innovative conference focused on the future of Nigeria. Our speaker line up includes Dele Ogun, David Agunbiade, Olumide Ijose, Macdonald Mopho, Hassan Aliyu, Rita Odumosu, Tomi Davies, Timothy Modu and Chidera Onyeachu.
DAVID AGUNBIADE
David Kunle Agunbiade is the driving force behind C9N, a fast-growing Facebook group, mostly comprising of like-minded Nigerians. With one hundred new members weekly and approximately 1,300 members on board since inception in August 2019, C9N remains solely focused on changing the negative narrative which has typically dogged Nigerians around the world.
David is a former magazine editor, founder and lead speaker at T.A.L.L (The Academy of Life & Leadership), a newly founded social enterprise which provides life & leadership skills sessions with focus on young adults and professionals.
His book, “Live and Lead” is due for release in the first quarter of 2020. David holds a degree in law, a postgraduate degree in International Human Rights Law, and he recently commenced his PhD studies, in which he aims to critically examine the State’s duty to uphold the right to publicly manifest one’s religion, with emphasis on modern UK.
DELE OGUN
Dele Ogun is a lawyer, author, speaker and commentator on Nigerian and International affairs in which
capacity he makes regular appearances on TV and radio including on BBC Radio 4’s Today
Programme, BBC London, BBC World Service, Channels TV and BEN TV.
After many years of service at Price
Waterhouse Coopers LLP and in practice as a corporate tax lawyer with Hogan Lovells LLP, he
founded his own law firm in 1997, London-based Akin Palmer LLP.
He enjoys self-expression as an author with his membership of the Society of Authors. His bestselling
book (now also an audio book): ‘A Fatherless People: The Secret Story of How the Nigerians Missed
the Road to the Promised Land’, which received rave reviews on Amazon, is a detailed history of
Nigerian leadership, from the earliest days of British Colonialism to the present. It follows his
equally acclaimed autobiography, The Law, The Lawyers and The Lawless. His other books on Nigeria
are “Ostrich Nation” (2010); “Identity and Development: Lessons from Nigeria for Africa and Europe”
(2002) and, “Oyinbo Came to Africa” (2019).
OLUMIDE IJOSE
Olumide Ijose, is a Professor of Management (Strategic Management and International Business), a
Division Chair and Director of the Supply Chain Innovation Center and Business Incubator at
Governors State University, College of Business, Uni
versity
Park, Illinois,
USA.
His research on global
value chain and knowledge transfer has been published in numerous journals. He also presents at
conferences and consults for businesses and his articles have been published in the Punch and Guardian
newspapers in Nigeria.
Professor Ijose has previously worked with Accenture, Shell Nigeria and
Africa Capital Alliance. He attended Government College Ibadan, International School Ibadan and
earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from University of Ibadan and a PhD from
The Ohio State
University, Fisher College of Business with emphasis on Labor Economics,
Manpower
Planning and
Labor Relations.
MACDONALD I J MOPHO
MacDonald I J Mopho is an author, a Legal Consultant and Mediator. He has mediated the settlement of civil disputes referred by the English Court of Appeal for mediation. He has worked with various Legal Advisory Organisations across the voluntary and commercial sectors in England including being a Legal Services Commission Manager with Capita Group plc; and as a consultant writer on BMIS with the Citizens' Advice Organisation in 2002.
He is a panel member of Focus Mediation Limited Civil/Commercial Mediators Panel. He has held various public appointments at the national and local government levels in the UK.
He sat as a member of the 9 persons in the Independent Advisory Group, IAG, General Practice Extraction Service, GPES, Health and Social Care Information Centre, HSCIC, for England (2012 - 2015) commended by the House of Commons Health Select Committee for excellence in data extraction governance recommendations in 2015; he sat as a Panel Member of the Secretary of State for Transport Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Alcohol, Drugs, Substance Misuse and Driving (2001 - 2008); and as an Independent Member and Chairman, Standards Committee, London Borough of Newham (2005 - 2009) and was flagged in the Christmas Edition of Newham Magazine December 2008 as "Setting the Standards" for governance. Since February 2018 he has also been sitting as a Lay Faculty Examiner in Communication Skills at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists MRCOG Part 3 Final Clinical Assessment Courses.
HASSAN ALIYU
Hassan Aliyu is a prominent Nigerian artist working in the UK. His visual art practice is informed by issues of race, equality, diaspora, and African identity within the context of contemporary and historical events. Having begun his career in Lagos at the onset of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), a significant body of his work is created in a wide range of alternative, found and inexpensive materials. Deeply thought provoking, these collages respond to the geo-political and socio-economic upheavals that afflict Nigeria; not least the impacts of its civil war and the onslaught of Western and Eastern religions.
Born in the UK, his family relocated to Nigeria in his early childhood. Subsequently Hassan attended Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where he graduated as best Final Year Student in Fine Art in 1986. Following a brief and exciting artistic career in Lagos, Hassan returned to the UK in 1990. The incumbent president of the Nigeria Art Society UK (NASUK), Hassan works from his studios and private gallery in Rainham Essex. Among his recent projects include the NASUK Nigeria@100: Transforming a British Experiment exhibition at WAC Gallery Waterloo, London 2014; and the international touring exhibition, Legacies of Biafra, which originated at Brunei Gallery London in 2018.
A professional doctorate researcher at the University of East London, his research topic is African enslavement.
RITA ODUMOSU
Rita is a seasoned educationist with global experience, expertise of education
leadership, management and a reputation for high quality project work, consultancy
and innovative work.
Rita attained graduate and post graduate qualifications from The University of
Birmingham, London University Institute of Education and Birkbeck College.
Rita supports school improvement and welfare of children and young people, in both
strategic and operational capacities. Including being a pro-active Commonwealth
partner and Trustee to two Commonwealth organisations.
She is passionate in ensuring that organisations have good governance and structure
as these are prerequisites for effective delivery and successful achievement of
outcomes. Rita has worked in various senior education roles; utilising her educational
experience and expertise to design and deliver teachers’ training courses, educational
projects and offering consultancy to schools and education systems within the UK,
Africa, India and the Caribbean.
Rita believes in CPD, regularly attends conferences, workshops. Her work always
receives accolade and positive impact.
As a pro-active Trustee to Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC)
www.cecomm.org and the Commonwealth Girls Education Fund (CGEF)
www.cgefund.org , Rita fully supports their policy and advocacy work.
Being CGEF Trustee involves sponsoring and meeting education needs of girls within
Commonwealth countries and requires extensive planning, fundraising and monitoring
of progress and attainment. In 2018, CGEF Trustees celebrated 50 years of
commendable service to the Commonwealth and its girls.
Of course, a vital part of this includes a range of support to numerous girls within
Nigeria.
Rita is Director of UK registered RN Training & Consultancy Ltd, a member of the FSB
(Federation of Small Businesses) and is an accredited MBACP Therapist/Counsellor
with a London based private practice.
TOMI DAVIES
Tomi Davies (TD) is an IT Systems Analyst turned Tech Strategy Advisor that has held leadership roles with global brands like Ernst & Young, Marks &
Spencer, Elf Aquitaine (now TOTAL), Sapient and the One Laptop Per Child project.
Over the last decade Tomi has nurtured a growing portfolio of Africa-based tech-enabled early stage ventures as a business angel and sits on the board of MBO Capital (Private Equity) and TextNigeria (Tech).
He is
co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN).
Tomi can be reached at www.tomidavies.com or on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook as TomiDee.
TIMOTHY MODU
Mr Modu has held a number of influential advisory positions over the years at government level in both UK and Nigeria. He is a practitioner in Urban Planning & Regional Development, Social enterprise and Sustainable regeneration, as well as active interest in Capital Market (Equity & Debt Market) development in emerging economies.
He started his career in investment banking in the City with Shearson Leman Brothers PLC in the late 80s before moving to work for The Managers of the London Steam-Ship Owners (LSSO) also in the City as the Asst. He was an accountant up to early 90s before transition to the Non-profit sector in the mid 90s to become the Chief Officer of the Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) in the London borough of Haringey for over five years. He then Co-founded a London based strategic development and professional support agency –CIDA to serve the public, private and third sector organisations both here in the UK and in some other African countries including Nigeria. Here in the UK CIDA, which he leads, serves primarily as an outsourcing agency for several local governments, regulatory/public bodies and some of the central government departments like department of Education and Department of Health.
Mr Modu is also an author and several of his research works (including some of his collaborated public policy research reviews and briefings) has been published. Mr Modu was a DTI Stakeholder Advisory Group member to the Social Enterprise Unit, advising on the national Social enterprise strategy and policy (1998-2005) – a high-level government Advisory Group set-up to develop the first UK government Strategy for Social Enterprise. Sponsored by DTI and chaired by The Secretary of State for Trade & Industry the Group was tasked with the responsibility to come-up the first blueprint on ‘Social enterprise and produced a report titled: ‘Social Enterprise – A Strategy for Success’.
CHIDERA ONYEACHU
Chidera Onyeachu, a Therapist and Historian is Co-director at Okwu ID, a platform designed to repackage Igbo culture for the African diaspora.
GABRIEL EKE
Gabriel Eke is a Specialist Surgeon, Sports Doctor and an Emergency Physician. An apt Motivator and Strategist who has inspired many. He has been a mentor and life coach for many successful professionals. An activist since his student days in Europe as President of Nigerian Students Union, Secretary General of African Students Union and President of the International Students Union in the early 1990's. He is the Head of Strategy & Insight for the Locum Doctors Union UK.
JAGDEESH SINGH
Jagdeesh Singh is of Panjaabi-Sikh ethnic heritage and community. He has been active in self-determination and ethnic nationhood campaigns for 30 plus years. He is a founding member of 'Nations Without States', an umbrella campaign group which advocates for stateless nations across the globe (e.g. Tamil, Panjaab, Kashmir, Southern Cameroon, Sabah-Swarak, Kurdistan). He is a keen writer and researcher, and has written about this subject and wider subjects (including environmental justice, animal rights and protecting nature and planet). Jagdeesh passionately believes in small-sized states which correspond and correlate with natural, organic national communities and peoples; providing them with the self-determining means to administer and govern their affairs. Jagdeesh is the second recipient (after Baroness Lawrence) of the annual 'Courage in Profile' award in memory of Stephen Lawrence which was given to him by the Black Criminal Prosecutors Association in 2007. This was for an enduring 10-year public campaign for justice on the land-mark 'honour-killing' case of his sister Surjit Athwal. Jagdeesh actively contributes to debates and media interviews on various global topics. He works in the employment law sector as a senior paralegal for Cameron Clarke Lawyers (based in Slough, Berkshire), presenting employment cases in the Employment Tribunal.
LYN ROSEAMAN
Lyn Roseaman is an international speaker, author and public speaking expert, helping people transform their lives by finding their voice. Following a successful international career as a market research director, Lyn knows what makes people tick and she brings that understanding to public speaking.
As founder of Now You’re Talking, she helps busy people in both the public and private sectors build their confidence, connect engagingly with their viewers and listeners, and create powerful narratives that deliver maximum relevance and impact to today’s key target audiences.
She has an MSc from the University of Strathclyde Business School and is a Distinguished Toastmaster at Toastmasters International, the global public speaking and leadership organisation. Over the past 25 years, Lyn has delivered hundreds of speeches, presentations and workshops around the world, including talks in French. She is also widely published and author of ‘Now You’re Talking! Take your speeches, talks and presentations to a wider audience and a bigger stage’.
Lyn cuts to the chase, homing in on your core message. She knows only too well what happens when we are afraid and nervous, and will help you channel your nerves to enhance your talks. Lyn loves exploring different ways of delivering a speech that are right for speakers and their audiences. She genuinely cares about your success, and shares her knowledge and experience to ensure you nail your speeches and presentations with confidence, connection and a vision for change.
SPONSORS
LOCATION
The Belfry Hotel & Resort is England’s leading Conference Hotel and an outstanding destination in the heart of the country for meetings, conferences and events. Located in Sutton Coldfield, the resort is surrounded by 500 acres of countryside and amenities include 3 golf courses, a posh spa, a sports bar and an indoor pool.
Venue:
THE BELFRY HOTEL & RESORT
Wishaw
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B76 9PR