The General Assembly of United Nations (UN) declared September 21, 2019 as International Day of Peace. The day is set aside to fortify the principles of peace, both within and among all member states and peoples. This year’s celebrations are particularly significant because it is the 20th anniversary of the UN resolution on the programme of action on the culture of peace.
The A-list Order of Lafayette chose a day of global peace to honour Dr. Wells Idahosa Okunbo, a Nigerian that has become synonymous with exceptional traits in all the paths he has travelled.
The award presentation was made by H.E. Robert Blum in the presence of members of the diplomatic corps in Geneva, Switzerland at the President Wilson Hotel Geneva
The Order of Lafayette is a patriotic, hereditary, nonpartisan, and fraternal organization established in New York City in 1958 by Colonel Hamilton Fish III (1888-1991), a former Congressman from New York and decorated veteran of the First World War. The Order’s patron is the Marquis de Lafayette, the French officer who was commissioned a general in the Continental Army, and who served with George Washington during the American Revolution.
The Order’s principles are “God, Unity, Peace, Honor”.
Eligibility for membership in the order is also open to all recipients, regardless of rank, of the Medal of Honor or the French Médaille militaire who served in France or French possessions during World War I or World War II, and are admitted as members. All lineal descendants, male or female, of original members, or those who would have qualified as original members, are eligible for full membership in the Order on reaching the age of 21.
The Order participates in a number of patriotic activities and Lafayette Award is given to a distinguished persons in social and cultural gatherings to promote and improve Franco-American relations, world peace and other events.
In the immutable words of Desmond Tutu, winner of Nobel Prize for Peace; “Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
For sure, the sprinkles of good deeds on humanity by the newest Order of Lafayette Peace Award recipient – Capt Wells Idahosa Okunbo, has turned into an oasis of global recognitions.