Former Minister of Education and co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, Oby Ezekwesili, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize by the Peace Research Institute Oslo PRIO.
Ezekwesili who is also the former Vice President of the World Bank and the Extractive Industry Transparency International (EITI), will be competing alongside other notable leaders and organization like Dr. Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad & Tarana Burke for the World Food Programme); SOS Méditerranée, Doctors Without Borders & International Rescue Committee and Reporters Without Borders), has been vocal about the campaign including Leah Sharibu who is still held in captivity.
The PRIO director, Henrik Urdal, describing Ezekwesili said,
“Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education in Nigeria and Vice President for Africa in the World Bank and one of the founders of Transparency International, has been an international champion in the fight against corruption. Ezekwesili was also the Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and the Chairperson of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), leading the first-ever national implementation of the global EITI standards.”
“Even though transparency and anti-corruption champions have not traditionally been considered as obvious candidates for the Peace Prize… A Nobel Peace Prize to the field of anti-corruption and transparency would be a welcome boost now that key actors such as the U.S. have abandoned the EITI by the wayside.”
