Home Make a Difference

Home Make a Difference

The Director’s Profile

Ade Adenekan

World Civil Society Forum in Geneva, Summer 2002

Geneva, Summer 2002

Executive Director Ade Adenekan's Profile:

Ebenezer Adeolu (Ade) Adenekan was born at Coker Market, Ifo, Abeokuta in south-west Nigeria . He attended various educational institutions both in Nigeria and abroad. Between 1975 and 1980, he was a senior official of the Scientific, Technical and Research Commission (STRC) – and arm of the former Organization of African Unity (OAU) now renamed African Union (AU) – the inter-governmental body for the entire 54 African countries.

Later on, he became a Free-lance Conference Translator and served many regional and sub-regional bodies including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Development Bank (ADB) etc… at various international conferences.

In the 1980s, Ade was a Global Outreach Leader in the Derek Prince Ministries at Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States of America. His linkage with the international Non-Governmental Organizations dates back to 1986 as an appointee to the exalted office of Study (Research) Commissioner for Africa by the Christian Peace Conference (C.P.C.) in Prague, Czechs Republic. He was then the Public Affairs Editor of the Cross" magazine and the Editor-in-Chief of the "Celestial News" journal both published in Lagos City, Nigeria.

Contact of PARC under the leadership of Ade with The Netherlands based International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) dates back to 1985 and it became the first African affiliate of the global movement at the latter's quadrennial Council in Quito, Ecuador, South America in 1992.

Ade. was one of the elected representatives for Africa and Council member of the International Peace Bureau - the world's oldest peace federation based in Geneva, Switzerland while maintaining a growing working relationship with "Dialog International" - a Germano-African law, democracy, peace and development organization based in Dusseldorf, Germany.

In February 1999 the Pan-African Reconciliation Council (PARC) was appointed the focal point for both the English and Portuguese speaking countries of the West African sub-region by the Coordinating body of the Hague Agenda for Peace (HAP 99). Following this development Ade Adenekan automatically became the Coordinator for the entire 16 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and subsequently a member of the Appeal's International Committee based in New York, United States of America. PARC was renamed the Pan-African Reconciliation Centre in 2003.

Ade Adenekan also emerged as a Global Consultant for the International Peace Bureau at the quadrennial election of the world's oldest peace movement held in Paris, France between October 15 - 20, 2000.

His hobbies include: reading, writing, travelling and exchange of ideas on current world development issues particularly as they affect peace and social justice.

An idea about a peace movement:

A peace movement……….

A peace movement, obviously, is a group of persons that seeks to discern concrete problems confronting its society and which they can resolve in a nonviolent way. This myriad of problems differs from country to country and linked to culture, population, urban or rural environment and that is why it is necessary to study nonviolence, its philosophy and religious dimension for the purpose of training on the strategy and tactics of solving them.

The need for the civil societies to develop skills on peace education, promote vigorous peace initiatives, fact-finding, mediation, conflict prevention and resolution cannot be overemphasized and this is the crux of our existence over the years. It is equally necessary for an appropriate mechanism for conflict prevention particularly through traditional methods of Africa to be put in place.

African Centre for Peace Education and Training aims at developing a comparative curriculum which will encourage a preventive policy that takes into account socio-political, economic, cultural and technological issues. By this process, we aim at mobilizing all available human and material resources for ensuring a purposeful peaceful corporate existence and pressurize our governments so that, among other things, they will be tended to reduce arms and defence expenditure, re-allocate financial resources to science and technology as well as education in general.

For this purpose, we have drawn up a seven-year plan of activities to meet this daunting challenge that you will see elsewhere on this site. Since there is always room for improvement, we shall always welcome your suggestions and hope that you will join us in making the continent a place where “lions and lambs will eat grass together”, we mean a haven of peaceful corporate existence, progress and tranquility.

You can get in touch with Ade at:

============================================

Ade. Adenekan.

Executive Director.

<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>

Pan-African Reconciliation Centre,

P.O.Box 9354 Marina ,

Lagos City 101001, Nigeria

Tel: (234-1)7268676. Mobiles: +234-805-400-3843 and 803-387-6216

Fax/Voice Mail: 1-267-821-6944, and 610-822-7423

Email: afropax[at]yahoo.com

Website: www.peace.ca/africa.htm

<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>

P.S. Are you aware that the centre also has an email list service to which you too can subscribe free-of-charge? Just click on: http://www.peace.ca/paxafricana.htm for the welcome message as well as the aims and objectives of the very educative medium.

Some information about PARC:

The Pan-African Reconciliation Centre (PARC) is a grassroots organisation working for socio-political as well as moral emancipation of Africa on the basis of nonviolence and 'self-giving love'. Its 700 members include educational institutions, religious organisations and individuals in some twelve African countries and in Europe. PARC seeks to mobilise public opinion and signature campaigns to eliminate threats to peace, not only in Africa, but throughout the world. It forwards written responses to threats to peace to civil, religious and political authorities. It sets up information, research and communication programmes to help political authorities take the right decisions. In the past, PARC played a crucial role in the monitoring of the Nigerian elections of 1993. It was the co-ordinating organisation and served as secretariat for the 'Hague Appeal for Peace 1999' for Anglophone and Lusophone (Portuguese) West Africa. The projects of PARC focus on the areas of social and economic justice, nonviolence, refugees, social conflict, interfaith activities, and youth and women. In the area of nonviolence it organises workshops on peace, social justice and reconciliation in African countries. As far as refugees are concerned, it organises relief materials and welfare services for displaced persons. In the field of social conflicts, PARC conducts research and collects data on the causes of inter-communal conflicts. It plays a mediator role in resolving social conflicts and provides early warning on conflicts within and amongst African communities. As part of PARC's interfaith activities, it initiates faith-oriented educational resources on active nonviolence, peace, social justice and reconciliation. It also undertakes grassroots campaigns for peace, human rights, self-determination and self-reliance. Special activities are carried out for youth and women. PARC organises youth leadership training activities and co-ordinates an international campaign to eliminate child abuse and discrimination against women. It assists students on issues of nonviolence and peace. Number of staff: 6. Budget: $25,000 - $100,000. Publications: Pax Africana, bulletin; Occasional papers. Web site http://www.peace.ca/africa.htm ; Email: afropax[at]yahoo.com

Articles by Ade Adenekan:

Democracy and Effective Leadership in the New Millennium

Photos from the All-Nigeria NGO Summit chaired by Ade in February, 2003

World Civil Society Forum in Summer 2002, Geneva

Message Personnel du Directeur

Profil du Directeur Executif :

Adeolu (Ade) Adenekan est né à Coker Market Village à Ifo, Abeokuta dans état de Ogun, région sud-ouest du Nigéria. Il a fait ses études dans divers institus aussi bien au Nigéria quà étranger. Entre 1975 et 1980, il était un Responsable de la Commission de Recherche Technique et Scientifique (C.R.T.S) une antenne de lorganisation de lUnite Afrcaine (O.U.A), organisme inter-gouvernemental regroupant les 54 pays independants de lafrique.

Il est ensuite devenu Traducteur de Conférence et travaille avec plusieurs organisations de la sous région y compris la Communauté Economique Des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (C.E.D.A.O), la Banque Africaine de Développement (B.A.D) etc aux diverses forums Internationaux.

En 1980, Ade était un Responsable chargé de diffusion globale d'information du Derek Prince Ministries à Fort Lauderdale en Floride aux Etats Unis d'Amérique. Ses rapports avec les Organisations non Gouvernementales (O.N.G.) remontent aux années 1986 étant nommé au bureau d'étude, commissaire pour l'Afrique par la Conférence Chrétienne pour la paix (C.C.P.) à Prague, en
République Tchèque. Il était alors rédacteur-en chef des affaires publiques de la Cross Magazine et de la revue Celestial News tous les deux publiés à Lagos - Nigéria.

Le contact de PARC avec IFOR (International Fellowship of Reconciliation) Mouvement International de la Réconciliation (M.I.R), sous la direction de Ade les années 1985, ont conduit son affiliation (premier africain) au mouvement global de cette dernière lors de sa conférence quadriennale tenue à Quito, Ecuador, en Amérique du sud en 1992.

Ade a été l'un des élus représentant l'Afrique et membre du conseil de l'International Peace Bureau <Bureau International pour la Paix>, la fédération mondiale pour la paix, basée à Genève en Suisse tout en maintenant une relation grandissante de travail
avec Dialog International; une organisation de droit Germano-Africain, de démocratie, de développement et de paix basée à
Dusseldorf en Allemagne.

En février 1990, le Conseil Pan-Africain de Réconciliation a été choisi comme organisation de référence pour les pays anglophones et lusophones de la région ouest Africaine par le comité de coordination de "HAP 99" (Hague Agenda for Peace). De ce fait Ade Adenekan est devenu automatiquement le coordonnateur pour les seize pays de la communauté économique des Etats de l'Afrique de l'ouest (C.E.D.E.A.O) et par conséquent membre du comité International de l'Appel basé à New York au Etat Unis d'Amérique.

Ade Adenekan a été élu consultant pour l' "International Peace Bureau" (le Bureau International de la Paix) lors de ses élections quadriennales tenue à Paris en France du 15 au 20 octobre 2000.

Ses loisirs sont: lecture, écrire, voyage, échange d'idées concernant les affaires d'actualités mondiales surtout celles qui concernent le développement ceci faisant de la paix et de la justice sociale.