IANA Blog- August 2026 Part I

 Blog

Happy August,

From August 6th to the 9th, we had our 2026 IANA Convention and Regional Gala in Detroit, Michigan. Like I did with our Convention weekend in Chicago, Illinois and in New York City, here is a recap of what you missed.


Thursday

Thursday was the arrival for some of the IANA members. We met at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southfield, Michigan. GALA 2nd Gen President Chiedu Nwaesei and Treasurer Onyi Ozoma hosted a meet and greet with other members of IANA 2nd Gen. We finished off the day with two games of Kahoot (which consists of trivia about IANA) and a special Nigerian version of Family Feud.


Friday

On Friday, more members of IANA came through, and we had an IANA picnic at Beech Woods Park in Southfield. 

What followed after the picnic was another meet and greet where other members of IANA 2nd Gen got to socialize with each other. 


Saturday

On Saturday, members of IANA mourned a longtime member of the Detroit chapter. During this time, we got to discuss the election for this year, as IANA President Mr. Michael Nwaesei has transitioned from his role as President as he will be passing the torch. We also discussed who will be the next President, Vice President and Treasurer of IANA, as Chiedu, Onyi and Vice President Ifeanyi Azuh, Jr. are stepping down from their positions and passing the torch.

Later that night, IANA members attended the annual Gala, hosted by Mr. Vincent Nwaesei and his son, Egbo. During the gala, we got to celebrate our latest medical missions to the villages, along with music, dancing, food, donations being made and awards being passed out to longtime members, especially for their humanitarian work with IANA, along with the raffle run by the 2nd Gen. 2nd Gen President Chiedu Nwaesei received an award as well for being the leader of 2nd Gen.

Sunday 

We finish off the weekend with a special cruise aboard the Detroit Princess Cruise Ship. Members of 1st and 2nd Gen got to enjoy a buffet line along with the payment of being aboard, entertainment from DJ Invincible, Motown Music from a tribute group and Dancing on a Sunday afternoon.

Here are more photos from the weekend in the Motor City.


Another successful IANA convention was held this year. The next convention will be in Denver, Colorado. We hope to see you in 2028. Also, look forward to a compilation video online, for those who weren’t able to make it what you missed during the weekend.

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