His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. (Photo courtesy of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation)Sacramento State’s Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR) will host the immediate past president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as the keynote speaker at this year’s Africa Peace Awards Dinner on Saturday, April 23.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the annual Peace Awards honors Africa and Diaspora Peace Heroes who have demonstrated a profound commitment to serve the community and promote peace in our society. This year’s honorees include Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa, Interfaith Mediation Center, Kaduna, Nigeria; Derrell and Tina Roberts, Roberts Family Development Center, Sacramento; Synthia Smith, Sisters of Nia, Sacramento; Frank Withrow, a Sacramento poet, writer, and mentor; and the Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento.
The awards dinner is the closing event of the 25th annual Africa/Diaspora Conference, which will run from April 20-23. This year’s conference theme is “Peace & Conflict Resolution in Africa, 25 Years Later: Lessons, Best Practices, and Opportunities.”
“We are honored to witness the momentous achievement of 25 years of bringing Africa to Sacramento, and to recognize our unsung peace heroes in Sacramento and Africa,” said CAPCR Director Ernest Uwazie. “We are also honored and very pleased to have President Jonathan as our distinguished guest speaker. His gracious concession and peaceful transfer of power to the opposition party in Nigeria’s 2015 election, for the first time in the country’s 55-year history (since independence), demonstrates exemplary statesmanship as well as stellar leadership that is worthy of commendation and emulation in sustaining Africa’s quest for peace and democracy.”
The Africa Peace Awards Dinner will include a silent auction, awards, African cuisine, and dancing. Live entertainment will be provided by the West African Highlife Band and award-winning Ghanaian singer and recording artist Maame Afon.
CAPCR was founded in 1996 as part of the College of Health and Human Services at Sacramento State. It provides conflict resolution and reconciliation services for agencies, governments, institutions, businesses, civil society, and community organizations and other groups. The CAPCR provides training on alternative dispute resolution (mediation, negotiation, arbitration) and offers conflict resolution intervention; provides research, educational programs, and services; and develops curricular and other published materials.
For more information, visit www.csus.edu/org/capcr or contact Professor Ernest Uwazie at (916) 287-6282. – Danielle Higley