Atiku, Tinubu congratulates Jonathan on Sunhak Peace Prize win

Eric Patrick 

Former Vice president and the presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar has congratulated former president Goodluck Jonathan on his Award.

Atiku's congratulatory message was contained in a statement shared on his X handle in the late hours of Tuesday.

This makes Jonathan 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.

Atiku's statement read, "Congratulations to former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan, @GEJonathan, on being awarded the 2025 Sunhak Peace Prize and, importantly, the first African leader to receive this honour. Well deserved."

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.

The committee cited the associations he chairs, 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 will be presented with the award on Friday in Seoul by the Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation in South Korea.

The Sunhak Peace Prize was established to continue the legacy of Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church.

It is awarded biennially in recognition of individuals and organisations that have made contributions to peace and human development.

It 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.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement on Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu also congratulated Jonathan, describing the award as a landmark achievement.

In a statement issued by Tinubu's spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the president stated that, Jonathan winning the Sunhak Peace Award affirms his bold efforts in peace-building and promoting democracy in Africa and beyond.

Tinubu in the statement recall the Jonathan'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.