Onaiyekan, Sultan nominated for 2012 Nobel Peace Prize

At a time when the activities of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, are threatening the peace of the country, two of Nigeria’s notable religious leaders have been nominated for the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

They are the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, representing Christianity and Islam respectively.

The Agence France Presse reported on Thursday that the International Peace Research Institute said that Prof. Gene Sharp of the United States, a theorist on non-violent struggle, and the Echo of Moscow radio station were the main contenders for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The IPRI noted that Onaiyekan and the Sultan may have made the list alongside the former US President Bill Clinton, for their efforts at campaigning against the misuse of religion.

Paradoxically, the unfortunate events of the past few years have consistently signalled an erosion of peace in Nigeria, with a few aggrieved citizens predicting a likely disintegration of its corporate nationhood.

There have also been widespread threats to the possibility of continued tolerance between adherents of the two main religions.

Muslim and Christian leaders have had to query the purported religious intentions of the Boko Haram, which has brought Nigeria under siege through the bombing of Christian places of worship, shooting, killing and wanton destruction of property.

The socio-political posture of the country has constantly been battered as unconfirmed reports had pointed an accusing fingers at some bigwigs as sponsors and backers of the Islamic sect.

President Goodluck Jonathan once raised the alarm that members of the sect had found their way into his cabinet.

An elder statesman and renowned writer, Prof. Chinua Achebe, was once nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, being one of the awards by the Nobel Foundation.

In 1986, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Prof. Wole Soyinka, making him the first African to clinch the award, which was in recognition of his wide cultural perspective and literary proficiency.

The Head of the IPRI, Kristian Berg Harpviken, had described the Peace award as, “The most talked-about of the Nobel Prize awards, which appears to be a wide open race this year with no clear frontrunner.”

Harpviken, who follows the work of the Peace Prize committee closely, publishes his own list of possible winners every year.