Planting Peacer Profile: Gopar Tapkida

Gopar Tapkida, and his family reside in Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria. He currently serves as the Regional
Peace Adviser (RPA) for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in West and Central Africa. He oversights and
provides Peace- building support to MCC Reps; MCC peace-building partners; and peace practitioners in Six countries
– Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso, Congo DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.
He facilitates interfaith bridge-building among Muslims, Catholics and the Evangelical in Nigeria and Chad, as
well as serving as the technical advisor for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Teams in Plateau state of
Nigeria. EPRT is a network organization cutting across gender, faith and agencies. He is also an instructor at Africa
Peacebuilding Institute in Zambia, Great Lakes Peacebuilding Seminar in Burundi and Jos ECWA Theological Seminary
in Nigeria, focusing on issues of ethnic, religious and identity conflicts.
Gopar had his pastoral theology from ECWA Theological Seminary Jos in 1998 and was ordained in 1989 with the
Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA). He had his graduate studies in Peace and Conflict Transformation from
CJP, Eastern Mennonite University USA. He is married with three daughters.