The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister who helped end his country's 20-year war with Eritrea.

Awol Allo, a fellow Ethiopian and an associate professor of law at Keele University in Britain, said Abiy deserved the prize for his role in ending the 20-year war between Ethiopia and Eritrea — a largely pointless war over disputed border territory that came at a huge financial and human cost to both countries.

“I think what Abiy did with the Eritrea issue was very courageous and remarkable. I think a lot of people have considered that what he has done is worthy of such a recognition.

“The two countries are no longer in the state of war. Families have been reunited because flights are now running between the two countries. Relations that have been severed for 20 years have been rekindled,” Allo said.

The 43-year-old Abiy also recently won plaudits for his role in helping to broker a power-sharing deal in neighboring Sudan, after a political crisis that led to the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, the country’s ruler for almost three decades.

“That also speaks to someone who takes peace and stability in the Horn of Africa seriously,” Allo said.