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(Posted 7:30
a.m., Feb. 5)
Blackburn resident receives award during opening of Black History
Month
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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|  Moji
Agoro recently received a Community Builders Award at the opening ceremonies of
Black History Month in Ottawa for her work with the Dapo Agoro Foundation for
Peace. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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In June
2002, Oladapo Agoro, a 19-year-old Lester B. Pearson High School student and resident
of Blackburn Hamlet, was stabbed to death while trying to break up a fight at
a downtown dance club. His youngest sister Moji was 13-years-old at the time. Dapo's
death devastated the entire family. Moji loved and admired her older brother.
He was an extremely popular student and a gifted athlete. The
tragic death of a loved one, especially a family member, can often tear a family
apart as they struggle with feelings of anger, frustration and guilt. Rather than
dwelling on the negative and allowing the tragedy to destroy their own lives,
the Agoro family decided to create something positive to honour Dapo's memory. In
2003, they established the Dapo Agoro Peace Award which is presented annually
to a student at Lester B. Pearson who best promotes the traits of brotherhood,
and non-violent conflict resolution. Three
years later the family founded the Dapo Agoro Foundation for Peace with the goal
of promoting nonviolent conflict resolution among secondary school students. Moji
and her older sister Shola are the Foundation's key spokespeople. On
Sunday, Moji received an Ottawa Community Builder Award at the opening ceremony
for Black History Month. According to the citation that accompanied the award
Moji was selected for her inspirational work with the Dapo Agoro Foundation for
Peace and for turning a personal tragedy into a successful youth engagement in
peaceful conflict resolution. The
20-year-old University of Ottawa student says she was completely taken by surprise
when she found out that she was receiving the award. "I
was surprised and really, really flattered. It was nice to be recognized for the
all the hard work we've done," says Moji. "This proves that our mission
is being heard and we're going in the right direction." The
Foundation is currently researching the prevalence of knives among today's youth
and knife violence among Young Offenders and adults. Their aim is to force governments
at every level to treat knife violence with the same seriousness as gun violence. A
clear example of the laissez faire attitude Canadian society has towards knives
is the fact that there is currently no age prohibition on the sale of knives to
minors. In stark contrast, both Great Britain and Australia have laws prohibiting
the sale of knives to anyone under the age of 18. Moji
is hoping the Dapo Agoro Foundation for Peace can start a public discourse on
the issue which will encourage governments to strengthen existing legislation
and pass new laws that will make it more difficult for kids to acquire knives
and more onerous should they decide to use them in committing a crime. (This
story was made possible thanks to thie generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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