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Conference Title:
The International Conference of Nigerian Students (ICONS) 2009
Theme:
Networking for Development
Conference Objectives:
The aim of this initiative is to foster
- National Development: To urge Nigerian Youths Abroad to remember their fatherland in their sojourn and endeavour to contribute to national development in any capacity.
- Unity in Diaspora: Networking Nigerian Youths (students) especially to foster unity (togetherness) amongst them abroad and at home.
- Nigeria Image Abroad: To challenge them to project Nigeria Image Abroad positively in every thing they do.
- Empowerment:
- To enlighten them about Job opportunities in Nigeria as well as help them secure choice jobs in Nigeria through a partnership with corporate bodies.
- To give Nigerian Youths in Diaspora a true sense of belonging even away from home
- To recognise some distinguished Nigerian International Students and award them for their outstanding achievements
- To show case the work of some distinguished Nigerian youths and International Students.
- To enable Nigerian students officially register with the Nigerian High Commission, UK and other Nigerian Embassies in other countries for documentation purposes and for easy access to them in future situations.
- To advice them especially the new students on ways of coping with the British Education and making an impact in their current environments.
Overview:
- Delegates can start arriving on the 3rd of April, 2009 (Friday) and settle in
- Then the registration starts by 9 am while the programme commences by 10 am on the 4th of April, 2009 (Saturday) at the Conference Centre of the University of Hull with several speeches and addresses by distinguished and reputable speakers which will also involve a talk about Nigerian International Student Agenda (NISA), environmental issues in Nigeria, the effect of the global financial meltdown on Nigerian investments, developing entrepreneurship capacity and a series of important and crucial topics relating to studying and working in the UK
- There is a lunch break in between the day session
- Then after the day session by about 5pm, there is a chatting/networking session with poster presentations (When delegates are registering on the website, if they have the mind to present a poster during the conference about their research, their ideas, to advertise their products, companies etc, they will have to indicate during the registration what type of poster they would like to present. They would have to send to us by email, their posters by the latest, two weeks before the conference for approval or else they would not be able to present it. The poster/networking session will end at 6pm. There will be a tea break during the poster/networking session.
- Emails will be sent to inform those whose posters have been approved.
- Then the night party starts at 8pm to end at 12midnight on the 4th of April, 2009 (Saturday) at the approved dinner hall within Hull University.
- The night party would be a buffet style dinner of Nigeria delicacies at its best.
- During the Party (Dinner), there would be an award ceremony to recognise the achievements of outstanding Nigerian International students that have excelled academically, socially, creatively and otherwise.
- Then there will be musical performances, dancing and comedy.
- The next day event starts at 9am on the 5th of April, 2009 (Sunday) with an inspiration speech by a distinguished speaker, a forum for discussing issues relating to studying and working in the UK as well as other National development issues leading to the drawing up a memorandum to be passed unto the Nigerian Government and then there will be closing remarks and vote of thanks.
- The event closes with a networking session.
- The conference comes to a close by 12 noon on the 5th of April, 2009.
Nigerian International Student Agenda (NISA)
NISA is an acronym for the Nigerian International Students Agenda, which is an initiative of the Xn Foundation (www.xnfoundation.org) aimed at projecting the ambitions of Nigerian students worldwide and representing their interests. It will act as the umbrella forum for the Nigerian International Student community on several developmental projects. It was inaugurated during the International Conference of Nigerian Students (ICONS) 2007.
Principal amongst the projects of NISA is a comprehensive web based chat room facility where the rooms are different academic courses and subject areas where Nigerian students can log into from any location in the world to chat with other professionals/students in that specific subject room and share academic and professional information.
It will act as a web based medium of career development, job placements and acquisition for Nigerian current and potential graduates. It will be an unparalleled information source for courses(short and long durational courses, professional courses, accreditation courses) available in different institutions of the world, entry qualifications, scholarship advertisements to mention but a few.
It will also have a forum where ideas, proposals and creative skills (poetry, musical, scripting, art work, academic papers etc), are displayed online by interested Nigerian students. It will be home for academic competitions, talks about various aspects of the lives of Nigerian International Students, advisory network on academic report writing, thesis and dissertation proposal development, professional consultations on different course areas, help and support for the Nigerian International Student.
It will be governed by an administrative board, an advisory board and an editorial board selected from the Nigerian international student community.
Special Announcements:
1. Travel Refunds
Please note that following funding that we have received, we are able to offer some cash back incentives for those travelling to attend the conference in Hull. The first 80 registrants travelling to Hull are entitled to a refund on travel expenses as follows:
- Those studying in London, the West Midlands, the East coast and North east England, (including Yorkshire, the East midlands and the home counties, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Surrey etc) are entitled to a maximum of 10 pound refund;
- Those studying in the Northwest and Southwest England (Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside and Greater Manchester) are entitled to a maximum of 15 Pound refund;
- Those in Wales and Scotland are entitled to a maximum of 20 pound refund.
To qualify, you need to produce your NUS registration card and proof of travel. Such proof could be a train or coach ticket, or petrol receipt. So, if you are driving four other people to the conference, so long as each person in the car has their NUS card, and can prove that you all travelled together, you will be entitled to a refund as stipulated.
If there are several of you travelling from one location, it may make sense to hire a coach. In that case, all qualified passengers on that coach will get the amount stipulated, towards the cost of your travel.
NOTE: Where your travel cost is less than your entitled travel refund, we will only pay you your travel cost.( i.e we pay whichever is less of either your travel cost or your entitled travel refund)
2. Invitation To Host ICONS 2010
XN Foundation is inviting offers from universities to host ICONS2010. Please contact the Executive Secretary.
Any university wishing to host ICONS2010 is advised to send delegates to Hull for ICONS2009, in order to see what the conference is about.
DR Ifeolu Omoniyi Akintunde
Executive Secretary
XN Foundation
Tel: +44(0)20 3015 5716
Mobile: +44(0)7817 734663
Email: i.akintunde@xnfoundation.org
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