By Kolawole Ojebisi
President Bola Tinubu has congratulated former President Goodluck Jonathan on winning the 2025 Sunhak Peace Founders’ Award.
In a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Tuesday, Tinubu commended Jonathan for his consistent advocacy for peace and democracy, describing it as a patriotic effort that has earned him global recognition.
“The President states that Dr Jonathan’s winning the Sunhak Peace Award affirms his bold efforts in peacebuilding and promoting democracy in Africa and beyond.
“The President recalls the former President’s historic acceptance of the results of the 2015 presidential election and his peaceful handover of power to an opposition party, which bolstered the nation’s democratic profile,” the statement read.
Tinubu thanked the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee for recognising individuals working to improve the world.
Launched in 2015, the Sunhak Peace Prize is awarded every two years to individuals and organizations making significant contributions to global peace and development.
The prize recognises efforts in three key areas: sustainable human development, conflict resolution, and environmental conservation.
Jonathan was selected as the recipient of the 2025 Founders’ Sunhak Peace Award.
The award will be presented by the Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation in Seoul, South Korea on Monday.
The Sunhak Peace Prize committee said Jonathan is being honoured with the Founders’ Prize for his consistent mediation and pro-democracy activities on the African continent.
It cited the associations chaired by the ex-president including the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), the West African Elders Forum (WAEF), and the International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP), as notable instruments for his contributions.
Jonathan is the third person and the first African leader to win this category of the Sunhak Award after Ban Ki-Moon, former United Nations (UN) secretary-general; and Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia.
The Sunhak Peace Prize was established to continue the legacy of Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church.
The prize was founded at the behest of Hak Ja Han, Moon’s widow, as an alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize, and is divided into two categories: the Founders Sunhak Peace Award and the Sunhak Peace Prize.
Prominent past winners of the second category include former Senegalese President Macky Sall; Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB); Sarah Catherine Gilbert, co-developer of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine; as well as GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
