Naga peace activist Niketu Iralu has been conferred the IofC 2025 Lifetime Achiever Award on November 12 at the 2025 Initiatives of Change (IofC) Annual Lecture and Trustbuilding Awards Ceremony held at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.
The event was organised by the Initiatives of Change (IofC) International and hosted by IofC South Africa under the theme ‘Personal to Global: Trustbuilding and Healing Begins at Home’.
Niketu Iralu, in his speech- delivered virtually- expressed his appreciation for being conferred the award. “It was during my university studies in Madras Christian College in South India, in 1955 I encountered the ideas of Initiatives of Change known then as moral rearmament,” recalled Iralu.
Immediately captivated by its aim to remake the world, by accepting the needed changes in himself, Iralu concluded that the greatest service he could render to himself and his people was to give his life to God and be guided and changed by God. “With trepidation, yet with clear conviction, I decided I would do what my soul needed to be done in the crisis that had started to divide my people, not looking for success or recognition,” he added.
Iralu also highlighted the ethnic complexities of the Northeast India region which touches Tibet in the north, Myanmar in the east, and Bangladesh in the south. With the landlocked region inhabited by roughly 220 tribes and ethnic nationalities, he highlighted that the international boundaries were drawn by the British Empire without the knowledge of these ethnic people.
“Today, their awakened aspirations sometimes clashed with neighbours on all sides. Unless, we can create a common stability for our common good, the killing fields of Southeast Asia will extend into our whole region. Conscious of this real possibility, we are creating this stability. My personal commitment and those we are working with in our region is to nurture a growing trust that has started to take root. By strengthening this growing trust, we are finding ways to confront our common crisis,” he said
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He further noted that their work of trust building has taught them that restitution and reconciliation becomes possible. “When we go beyond, seeing only where others have heard us and be ready to see where we too may have provoked them to hurt us, then forgiving and being forgiven becomes possible,” expressed Iralu.
The Award aims to recognize, encourage and promote outstanding individuals and organizations working tirelessly to create a better world and raise the standards of ‘trustbuilders’ around the world.
Niketu Iralu is a veteran peace builder from Northeast India who has spent decades building trust across political and ethnic divisions in the region. A resident of Zubza in Nagaland’s Kohima district, Iralu’s work focuses on reconciliation through personal transformation, truth telling and deep relationship building.
Member of Initiatives of Change (IofC) Robert N. Solo expressed his disappointment on Iralu’s visa being denied. Solo further mentioned that this was a lifetime achievement where Iralu had worked for more than 40 years for change.
