Ban Ki Moon, President Zuma, win Global Peace Award

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United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma are the winners of the Global Peace Initiative Prize 2013 of the  Akasoba Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ACPCR).

The prize is a coveted award for individuals and world leaders who have impacted positively on global peace efforts and disarmament.

Presenting the Award to the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, the Chairperson of ACPCR, Her Majesty, Queen Akasoba Duke-Abiola, who is the Akasoba of Kalabari, praised him for his ‘humility, universalism and an unending passion for peace’.

She observed that “the world would be a much better place if more people emulated the strength in the quiet and amiable demeanor of the UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon”.

Queen Akasoba Duke-Abiola therefore thanked the United Nations Secretary-General for his role in promoting global peace efforts, disarmament and polio eradication.

Also speaking while presenting the award to the co-awardee, the President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma who emerged winner after beating US President Barack Obama  to clinch the coveted prize, Queen Akasoba, observed that “President Jacob Zuma is an icon of Democracy and an unrepentant Apostle of Peace”.

She commended Mr. Zuma's great leadership qualities and urged “other World Leaders to emulate this Man of Peace and amiable gentleman who has been bestowed with the rare gift of reining in contending forces into a harmonious march towards the peaceful- coexistence and hence industrialization of South Africa.”

The occasion which held at the  United Nations General Assembly in New York had in audience world leaders comprising Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of States and Governments.

The ceremony is being organized annually by the Akasoba Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ACPCR) to confer the Global Peace Initiative Prize on individuals who have used their initiatives to ensure global peace and cordial relations amongst nations. 
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The Queen Akasoba Global Peace Award has played significant role in promoting Nigeria’s image abroad, which contributed immensely to the recent election of Nigeria into the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent Member.