South Sudan: Lament of diminished hopes

[Elisabeth Janaina]

South Sudan: Lament of diminished hopes

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By Dennis Lissa

In the lonely town of Buggari in Western Bahr El Ghazel, stands a flag
in the middle of government square. The flag is fading in colour and
partially torn. It waves sadly wherever the wind blows. It no longer
has the strength to carry the weight of the meaning of colours it
bears. From far, it looks weary and ready to give up on itself. But
this was once the flag —the flag of South Sudan—under which the hope
for the future was echoed; the flag under which the school children
stand and chorused with one accord, “Land of great abundance”. But to
people’s disbelief, it has turned to be the land of hunger, chaos, and
broken dreams. It no longer produces fruits of hope and prosperity. It
has turned to be a land where tribes are divided by streams of blood
rather than water.

Looking back on soaring hopes, revolutionary ideals, and dream of
equality, one will pause and ask what has happened to South Sudan? Was
the separation of South Sudan from Sudan a bad idea? Is it too late to
claim unity with Sudan again? To answer these questions, it is worthy
to explore the revolutionary ideas that sprang out of South Sudan and
juxtapose them against the National Islamic Front ideals of the 1990s;
and the dynamics of events on the international theatre during the
time of referendum.

The SPLA, which became a dominant force in South Sudan, started with a
quest of why Sudan has been at war with itself since its independence.
According to John Garang, Sudan has failed to find a formula that
unites all its ethnic groups. He pointed out that elites in the north
aspired to create a theocratic state by excluding other parameters
that make up Sudan. This, Garang warned, will lead to the total
breakup of the Sudan. For Sudan to be intact, he suggested, a creation
of secular “New Sudan” where all the religions and ethnic groups are
recognised. Contrary to popular belief, Garang did not aspire to have
independent South Sudan. According to him, Africanism in opposition to
Arabism will only lead to more poverty and misery.

Despite the strength of the “New Sudan” ideology which has afforded
Garang regional and international recognition, it wasn’t fully
understood my Southerners. To them, it was like a pie in the sky. A
dream that was too big for them! As a result, most Southerners took up
arms for other reasons that are not based on the “New Sudan” ideology.
It became clear that the idea that came out of South Sudan was
stronger than Southerners themselves!

Unlike South Sudan, in the north where ideological affiliation is
stronger, elites here embraced a weaker ideological bent based on
religion. The National Islamic Front (NIF), throughout its tenure in
power, believed that Islam is the only solution to Sudanese’s
predicaments. In fact, the party went as far as promoting global
Jihad, create instabilities in neighbouring countries, and imposed
Islam on Sudanese citizens by coercion. However, the NIF’s ideology
did not reflect the reality of Sudan. By all standards, it could not
hold Sudan together. It became a prime recipe for session as Arabism
and Islam, and unity are mutually exclusive.

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City, it became clear
to the international community that Sudan was emerging as a threat to
global security. It was in the interest of the West to ensure that the
Islamists in Khartoum were ousted or at least weakened. South Sudan by
default became a political pressure point. Most of these countries did
not care whether South Sudan was ready for independence or not. It was
all about their security. Thus, when South Sudanese were going for the
referendum, most of these countries ensured independence was the
ultimate outcome. Sadly, the Southern Sudanese people’s choice of
sovereignty has unearthed harsh realities whose imprint on the country
will remain for many years to come.

In the ghost town of Buggari, a boy came out of hiding. He looks pale,
hungry, and weary. There was nobody to comfort him. He looked at the
flag but it was weary too. Above the flag, there was a thick smoke of
cloud. Suddenly, a relief plane appears. But it could not land or drop
food because of the thick cloud. It seems like all the hopes are
hanging up in the air! He looked down and remembered Garang’s speech
he and his father heard over the radio many years ago; that “peace
will bless us once more with hearing the happy giggling of children
and the enchanting ululation of women who are excited in happiness for
one reason or another.” But these dreams have departed him. He then
sadly looked up in the cloudy sky and prayed with all his might” Oh
God, bless South Sudan!”