Seen from a distance, Okhwan Yoon, looked like an ordinary tourist taking his time to relish the beauty of Abuja, Nigeria's capital city. Upon a close look, it became clear that Mr. Yoon was not just a tourist. He had a placard held up to his chest. The inscription on Mr. Yoon's placard read: "PEACE IN NIGERIA."
"Something is wrong!" a passerby whispered to a friend - a foreigner staging a one-man protest in Transcorp Hilton hotel junction, one of the busiest junctions in Abuja under the scorching sun of about 38 degrees centigrade.
"He has been there for six hours," a nearby construction worker told the passersby.
Okhwan Yoon is a South Korean cyclist and peace activist who has been travelling the world since 2001 with a message of peace.
On January 7, when his flight touched down in Sao Tome and Principe, he was visiting the 180th country in his nine-year-old peace campaign. His target is to visit 192 countries by 2011.
He started the campaign in 2001 travelling on his bicycle but dumped it for faster and more efficient modes of transportation. Now, he flies in planes and rides in cars.
On Monday, he came into Nigeria from Chad for his second visit to the country on the same mission. His visit coincides a period of political and leadership crisis in the country as well as the wake of the riots in Jos.
He was in Lagos in 2004 but said his decision to visit Nigeria again at this moment is only a coincidence.
"I love humanity; I love Peace. That is why I am here again," the activist said in Pidgin English. "I know it (Nigeria) is a peaceful country, but we need a stronger peace."
He said Nigeria is very important to the world, but is unstable.
Mr. Yoon said he believes that, with his style, he can bring peace to Nigeria and other African nations such as Sudan, which he said was also unstable.
The Korean said that a peaceful Nigeria will promote peace in Africa and subsequently get peace to South and North Korea. He strongly hopes that South and North Korea will re-unite some day and that the peace will come from the outside Korea.
"We Koreans need unity, so we support peaceful Africa," he said.
Even though he has been to many countries with his message of peace, he has not being to his nation's closest neighbour and rival - North Korea, where he wishes the effect of his nine year long labour will be felt.
Standing silently at the traffic junction, he held up the placard for every passerby to see. He, however, said he also approaches persons spiritually and extends his message of peace in that realm.
Importance of peace
The 47-year-old is a college graduate with a degree in law. He speaks eight international languages.
He described himself as a messenger of peace and said he abandoned everything he had to embark on the trip.
Before the mission, he owned a cloth trading company in South Korea but sold it off and used the proceeds and his savings to fund his tour.
According to him, the trips are now financed by his friends around the world, the mass media, and voluntary donors who value his mission.
He is unmarried and plans to remain single till he achieves his vision.
"This is more important and the journey is long," he said. "I have given up personal happiness, pleasure, and love life for peace in the world."
During his trips, he has had six car accidents, five malaria attacks in Africa and endured other ailments in other parts of the world. He has also gone for days without food and water.
"I have had a hard time but I feel very happy," he said.
Even though his message seems not to be giving him a quick result, he said he feels that the world will, someday, be peaceful and South and North Korea will re-unite.
From Nigeria, he intends to visit the Republic of Niger in continuation of his peace tour.
"We need to teach people the importance of peace," he said.
Reader Comments (8)
post a comment
* = Required information