President of the Albino Foundation, Jake Epelle was awarded with the Franco-German Human Rights and Rule of Law Prize 2021 on Monday, 13th December 2021. The award was presented to him by the French and German Ambassadors to Nigeria – Ambassador Emmanuelle Blatmann and Ambassador Birgitt Ory, at a ceremony held at the residence of the French Ambassador in Abuja.
Epelle is said to be the third Nigerian to win the award which is presented annually on the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Blatmann lauded Epelle for tackling challenges of persons with albinism and mobilising around the issues of social impact, discrimination, visual impairment and lack of health care for skin cancer. Speaking on the award, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC)’s Executive Director, Clement Nwankwo commended it, stating that it was well deserved, given Epelle’s huge contributions to Nigeria’s democracy in recent years.