What Next After Hoisting of the Flag of Republic of South Sudan? By Dhaal Mapuor Aterdit, RUMBEK, LAKES STATE
AUG. 11/2011, SSN; On the 9th 2011, the new-born Republic of South Sudan was almost busting with shouts of joys and jubilations. This was a day when everyone countrywide sang songs of pleasure with high respect and human dignity. The day was enormously lively not only to South Sudanese alone but to all the human races all over the world that are indebted with the principle idea of that “a man is born to be free”. It was a time when the peace-loving inhabitants of the earth realized that their fellow-human beings that were extremely dehumanized are unchained from immense slavery. With high presumption, I thought I was the only South Sudanese waiting anxiously for 9th July 2011. When a clock’s minute hand struck 12:00 AM midnight, it signaled the start of the new day and the joyful birth of the world’s 193rd nation. Imaginarily, as many people were waiting worriedly as I did, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked onto my cell phone’s time and date. My brain sensed something like the scent of the autonomous nation. I worried immeasurably. But why did I worry? I asked myself internally as I exchanged words intra-personally. The worry was all about independence. Good or bad!!!... May be 9th July will tell me. After a few seconds of the first minute of 12:00 AM, 9th July, I was raised from my bed and sent out of the room I slept in by something I heard to might have been somewhat like a launch of D-day. There were a lot of gunshots all over the town and cries of joy from elderly people, youths, boys and girls. Everything which could give sound was echoed on that night. Applause continued from that time up to some days later. When the sun rays touched the ground; roads, streets, highways and liberty squares of the major cities of South Sudan were already full of celebrities, government officials, locals, students and pupils. That morning was cherished uniquely. It symbolized stoppage of suffering and slavery. In the back of my head, I memorized an anguishing story told to me by a certain SPLA soldier in 2003. I all of a sudden met him on the borehole where he was bathing. It is really very shocking to tell you that the whole of his body was smothered with deep scars. It was a complete disfigurement. POW horrific story: He started explaining the story of his disfigured body when he saw me eying him fixedly. “I was forcibly confined and held prisoner when I was captured in the battle of Torit. All of us (prisoners) were unfashionably ill-treated. Our legs and hands were chained differently to some fixed bending steel stands until they secured our steadiness on those stands. After all these things, they ordered men holding a burning and dripping polyethylene. The drops of this burning polyethylene were allowed to drip on our naked bodies. It was a pain of inferior quality than death”. He explained irritably. With no time, I discovered tears flowing uncontrollably in my eyes. After a moment of cry, I heard him condoning me that he was the luckiest of all to survive such cruelty. However, there is no need to cry. Struggle must continue. The suffering of all our people deserves to be etched into the pages of history. We must do it. Worried about the future: I am very nervous about the way things were ran, the way things are running and how things are to be ran in our country. I would at the outset like to stress what will be the next step after hoisting the flag of the Republic of South Sudan. In the past since the inception and establishment of (GOSS) Government of Southern Sudan until now when independence is attained there was (is) rampant corruption, acute lack of transparency in appointing civil servants and tribalism at high velocity. Unmindful of development, education and health services, it was thought that all these things were not in expected position because South Sudan was getting inadequate oil share from Central Bank of Sudan. What I think our government should first prioritize are: strong professional military service for national defense, education in generality, Health, food security, creating job opportunities, appointing qualified and competence work forces and development. If we always talk of development we must also be aware that there is no national development without education particularly the issue of the closure of the universities. Or can a country prosper when people are starving and dying of minor diseases? I hold a big interest in urging that transparency if exercised can promote national unity as well as unity within and amongst the local communities in our nation. Jobs taken by relatives: Before the 9th July independence celebration, the concerned authorities in the government offices were using the so-called “things will be alright definitely after independence celebration because people are busy currently”. It must be very frightening news for those job seekers who believed in that statement to hear yet again that job vacancies in the ministries are filled up by the close circles of the concerned authorities (uncles) in the ministries. Aha aha ahaa …. It’s really very disapproving and full of negativism. Transparency or opaqueness! This is not the typical country we fought for. On the side of health, it would need a great deal of struggle to train nurses and medical doctors to come and serve the entire population in the country. But most importantly, education has to be put as the first ranking priority because there is no health without education. It plays a very shine-turning role even in managerial and administrative departments of the government, NGOs and private sectors. If we develop our physical infrastructures and then we gain a great wealth. Who do we think we will bring from the blue and manage our national economy? Skyrocketing prices: Like our current situation in South Sudan, people complain often in our local markets that the food prices have skyrocketed. This means the prices have redoubled. Any national prosperity is started in an individual, household, hamlet, state and then extends to the nation. For how long shall all the locals be waiting to see the government providing them food? As agrarian families we must work to ensure our life and stop becoming city dwellers and consequently transform ourselves to be urban loafers. Happy-to-be-poor veteran: Just some days ago I met a person I assumed might have a mental disorder or else a psychotic. I met him on the road leading to Lakes State General Secretariat. He held a slogan marked “Happy to be Poor”. I stopped and said “fantastic!!!.... That’s really very fantastic slogan. Is it sarcastic or that’s what you meant?” “I have not ever known what I should make ironic. They are just four words ‘Happy to be Poor’. That’s what my slogan stands for and it’s what I meant, anything?” He inquired. “Nothing bro.” I said. “But if that is what you meant please tell me why is it so because I am beneath your feet in this matter,” I concluded. He said you know I have been one of the war veterans who enjoyed and celebrated jovially the independence of South Sudan. It may even surprise my readers to realize that the man was a person without material comfort or affluence. He told me that no matter how his fellow-comrades are living in a privileged circumstance he is still happy to be poor for the reason that the independence of his country is attained. We must know that the Limos, Mercedes Benzes and other large luxurious automobiles have nothing to add into our national development if we don’t offer to build modern houses, schools, health centers, roads and bridges. The author of this article can be reached @[email protected] COMMENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
