Genesis of freedom: Sons and Daughters of South Sudan

By Butrus Ajak, Australia

“Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery” Wayne Dyer.

October 30, 2010 (SSNA) — To sons and daughters of South Sudan, the morning of 10th January, 2011 will be like the day Barack Obama was declared the 44th President of the most powerful nation on the Earth, USA. All black whether in USA or outside US couldn’t sleep that day.  The 10th January, 2011 will be a day to keep sacrosanct and be remembered by Southerners and other marginalized people in the Sudan. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the 1st Vice president of the Sudan Republic and the President of South government and his Vice President Dr. Riek Macher Teny names will be remembered in thousands of decades to come. Their names will be written in the history books as clique of nationalists who spearheaded and guided the masses of South Sudan to eternal freedom at its final phase. Their decisive decision now on how to deal with the canny and fly-by-night regime in Khartoum will determine the fate of thousands sons and daughters of South Sudan who are watching and waiting eagerly.

Most of the Southerners are overzealous to see freedom of the South obtained. Currently and most worryingly enough, there has been hearsay on the media about SPLM backing down on it stance to doing referendum as stipulated in the CPA. If this turns out to be true, then it is a deadly mistake by SPLA/SPLM top leadership. Good five years have just vanished of the list and nothing substantial about CPA requirements was done, when NCP sees South freedom is at the offing, they have come up with several lame excuses just to buy time so as the set time of the CPA application expires. This shouldn’t be allowed to chance.

As Sudan has been at War with its self, Southerners bore colossal consequences. South Sudan rate of illiteracy is as high as compare to its counterpart Northern Sudan. North allows their sons and daughters to go school and we in the South were denied this chance by NCP, and this was by not providing Education centers. South Sudan was made a vanguard of Warfare. South sons and daughters missed the opportunity of being free students, who would decide to become politicians, lecturers, managers, teachers, engineers, medical doctors, you name it. North is held to account for an incessant instability of the South which resulted in high illiteracy of the region.

South daughters and sons were seen and considered primitive by Jallaba and it was because, they were denied chances to proof their talents to the outside World. Though few were educated, big number didn’t make it. However, the opposite was seen when our boys and girls were sent to schools in our neighboring Countries namely Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and many more. They made names in these Countries. And for those who ventured to the Western World, our boys and girls are doing tremendous job. In the education arena, White community is amazed by our children performances. In the fashion domain we have, Alek Wek of UK and USA, Ajah Deng of USA and Ajoh Majok of New Zealand. They made South Sudan a prominent nation in the waiting that will be producing beautiful and fashionable women of all time. In sport field, we have the most revered young South Sudanese men Luol Deng of NBA, Lopez Lomong the USA flag bearer of 2008 Beijing Olympic and Machar Yuot (popularly known as Macharia) of USA is another rising star in long distance running. In music industry, we have Emanuel Jal, the former child soldier musician. Our sons and daughter are of World standard only that they were deprived of opportunities by NCP to hound their careers.

In contrast to Anya 1 and Anya 2, Justice Abel Alier and his colleague Joseph Lagu, the Omdurman military graduate and the President of the High Executive Council of South Sudan, made a good attempt to liberate and free us and it wasn’t successful. Their movement was cheated and absorbed into Sudan Army by the same Jallaba. To do away with the then South aspiration, their army was scattered all over Sudan just to minimize their togetherness. It was technically done to nip danger of probably rebelling again in the bud. Wretchedly, my people were exposed to the same oppression until Kwanyin Bol famously known as (Mangook) RIP, Dr. John Garang Mabior the then SPlA/SPLM chairperson (RIP), William Nyuon Bany (RIP) the then Vice chairperson, Arok Thon Arok (RIP), Martin Majer Gai (RIP) and Salva Kiir Mayardit the incumbent chairperson of GOSS and many more sons and daughters of the South broke again the dead silent and staged the mutiny and took up arms to finally set us free. We owed them the greatest homage, though there existed loathsome upheaval in their movement, they are the architect of what is about to be possessed in less than 70 days. That moment is here now; it is just at the corner. It rests in the hands of the sole survivor of the architects, Salva Kiir Mayardit and his deputy Dr. Riek Machar. They need not be cheated again. There is a say that normally says: If somebody cheats you once, shame on him, if cheated twice, shame on you!!!! Anya, Nya one was cheated, SPLA/SPLM shouldn’t allow the story to repeat itself. Thus, there has to have unconditional no compromise on referendum date. It’s nonnegotiable whatsoever!!!

After then, South sons and daughters will be like any other children around the globe. Slit of illiteracy, stratification and bourgeoisies will get closed gradually. Our children will be sent to school with no hindrances, there will be no rich classes Vs poor classes. The aforementioned gentlemen who determined to change the face of the Sudan, and it happens, their names, living or decease will be written in the history of liberation of South Sudan as heroes and heroine who once a time brought freedom to the oppressed one. We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we took up arms and scarifies our dear lives for it.

Butrus Ajak is an erstwhile Red-Army and a Swinburne University graduate who live in Australia. He is reachable at: [email protected]  

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