Brief History of The Academy
The need for a Nigerian Academy of Management was first mooted in the year 2000 by Professor Adebayo Akerele, then of the Department of Business Administration, University of Benin. Co-incidentally, Professor Nnamdi Asika of the Department of Business Administration, University of Lagos had also initiated a similar move in Lagos. Professor Akerele convened a nation-wide inaugural meeting of foundation members in early 2001 and invited Professor Asika to be part of the team. The maiden meeting took place at the University of Benin in the Faculty of Engineering Conference Room on August 16, 2001. It was attended by twenty-six (26) persons, hosted and partially sponsored by the University of Benin under the Vice Chancellorship of Professor A. R. Anao.
Professor Akerele was elected the pioneer president of the Academy with Professor Asika as Vice president. In 2005, The Academy inaugurated an annual conference series. The inaugural Annual Conference took place at Rockview Hotel, Abuja from November 22-23, 2005. The conference theme was “Management: Key to National Development”. It was a huge success. The Second Annual Conference took place at Bayero University, Kano in 2007 while the third and fourth were hosted by the University of Benin in 2008 and the University of Port Harcourt in 2010 respectively. The fifth conference took place at the University of Calabar in February 2011 while the sixth held at Sharon Ultimate Hotels, Abuja from October 18-19, 2011.
The Annual Conferences of the Academy have held steadily from 2013 to date. The 13th Edition is currently under planning. The membership of the Academy has risen steadily from 26 in 2001 to about 200 in 2011 and over 400 currently.