James Wuye is a Pastor of the

General Council of the Assemblies of God Nigeria The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Nigeria is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in Nigeria affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, with headquarters in Opkoto, Ebonyi State. In November 2022, Abel Amadi was elected t ...

and co-director with Imam Muhammad Ashafa of the ''Interfaith Mediation Center of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue'' in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nige ...

Kaduna State Kaduna State ( ha, Jihar Kaduna جىِهَر كَدُنا; ff, Leydi Kaduna, script=Latn, ; kcg, Sitet Kaduna) is a state in northern Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna which happened to be the 8th largest city in ...

, Northern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Biography

He is the son a soldier who fought the

Biafra War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

.During the 1980s and 1990s, he participated in riots and interfaith violence. For eight years he served as Secretary General of the Kaduna State chapter for the ''Youth Christian Association of Nigeria'' (YCAN), an organization representing all Christian groups in the country. In 1987, he became an interpreter in a church of

. He obtained a degree in theology from the AG's Northern Theological Seminary in Kaduna. Then he went on to graduate with an undergraduate degree from Vision University, Kaduna campus and a master's degree in theology from West Africa Christian University. During a confrontation between Christians and Muslims in Zongon Kataf, James Wuye lost his right arm, while ''Muslim Youth Councils'' Secretary General Muhammad Ashafa lost two cousins and his spiritual mentor. In 1995, the two former opponents decided to work together and build bridges between their respective communities and founded ''Interfaith Mediation Center of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue'' in

. The organization provide interfaith training to young people in schools and universities, to women, religious leaders and politicians. The center has thus contributed to defusing tensions in the 2002 and 2004 clashes in Kaduna and Yelwa.

Documentary Films

Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye have been the subject of two documentary films: * ''The Imam and the Pastor'' (2006) * ''An African Answer'' (2010)

Honors

Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa have received the Breme Peace Award in 2005, the Prize for Conflict Prevention awarded by the

Fondation Chirac The Fondation Chirac was launched by former French President Jacques Chirac, after having served two terms in office between 1995 and 2007. Since 2008, this foundation strives for peace through five advocacy programmes: * conflict prevention * ...

in 2009 and the Deutsche Afrika-Preis awarded by the German Africa Foundation in 2013. They were among five recipients of this year's prestigious 2017 ‘Intercultural Innovation Award’, conferred by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and BMW, for their successful mediations in conflicts in Nigeria.Pmnews
Pastor, Imam win Intercultural Innovation Award at UN
pmnewsnigeria.com, Nigeria, November 30, 2017 The award ceremony took place at UN Headquarters in New York on 29 November.

References

External links

''A Discussion with Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa''
Berkley Center at Georgetown University, Oct. 2011.
''An African Answer: Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa''
BBC, Nov. 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wuye, James Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Nigerian Pentecostal pastors Assemblies of God pastors Christian and Islamic interfaith dialogue