Friday, 26 August 2011
SOUTH SUDAN: THE TASKS AHEADTHE South Sudan was officially declared as a republican state on July 9, 2011 with its capital in Juba. The emergence of this new nation followed vicious civil wars with the Republic of Sudan of which the new country was part.
SOUTH Sudan with a population of about six million people, who are predominantly rural with subsistence economy, paid dearly for independence. At least, more than two million people, according to reports, were killed and another four million are still internally displaced as a result of the spasm of this internecine wars.
THE newest nation, which was a victim of many civil wars, since it was merged with the Republic of Sudan in 1956 at independence, has demonstrated unusual resilience and valour towards achieving its goals. For instance, following the first Sudanese civil war, which led to the formation of Southern Sudan Autonomous Region in 1972, until it collapsed in 1983, a violent interregnum was created. This led to a destructive civil war until a comprehensive and internationally supervised peace agreement was signed in 2005, which fostered the restoration of an autonomous South Sudan government that paved the way for a referendum in which 99 per cent of Southern Sudanese voted for separation from the rest of Sudan.
THE attainment of nationhood by South Sudan has obviously allowed the new nation to apply for membership of sub-regional, regional and global organisations. Of course, it has instantly applied for membership of Commonwealth of Nations, the East African Community, the African Union, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and it even got the invitation from the Arab League to join its forum. The United Nations General Assembly has subsequently approved the recommendation of South Sudan as its 193rd member state on July 14, 2011.
THE victory of South Sudan in its quest for independence deserves commendation. Its leaders, both dead and alive must be praised. Colonel John Garang, the first president of autonomous Southern Sudan, who led the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army until his death in a plane crash on active service in 2005, is a lesson in courage and bravery. Many other freedom fighters, even in Africa, as a result of greed, coupled with pathological lust for power, have lost focus, thus balkanising their countries into fiefdoms leading to unmitigated miseries.
IN welcoming the Republic of South Sudan to the comity of nations, we need to stress that the tasks ahead are gargantuan and intimidating.
THE new country is populated by over 200 ethnic groups. The South Sudan government is said to be currently at war with at least seven armed groups with tens of thousands displaced, while the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) is fingered for the campaign of atrocities against unarmed civilians. In fact, the SPLA was, in particular, alleged to have countered rebellions by the Shilluk and Murie tribes by burning villages, raping women and killing civilians.
THE region of Abyei still remains disputed, requiring a separate referendum on whether the region wants to join the North or South Sudan. Also, the conflict in the South Kordofan which broke out in June 2011 between the Army of Republic of Sudan and SPLA over the Nuba Mountains constitutes a veritable problem to the new government in South Sudan.
THE inter-ethnic warfare which, in most cases, was endemic and hostile before the war of independence, is still active and even documented in Human Rights Watch 2009 report as evinced by the hostilities in Jonglei state and Murle tribe.
WHILE the Information Minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin vowed that South Sudan will respect freedom of information, the activities of security forces seem to be sending a contrary signal. According to the chief editor of a Juba newspaper — The Citizen, it was claimed that in the absence of a formal media law in the fledging republic, he and his staff have faced abuses at the hands of security forces.
DESPITE the frightening spectre of socio-political environment in South Sudan, the promising economic potential, blossoming eco-system and attractive wild life still remain as few of the natural resources that constitute potential economic pillars of the new nation.
SOUTH Sudan exports timber to the international market, while one of the major national features of the country is River Nile, whose many tributaries have sources in the country. In fact, 80 per cent of the crude oil deposit in Sudan is in South Sudan. The country is also endowed with abundant solid minerals such as iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, silver, gold and hydropower. All these natural resources, if well tapped, are strong enough to lift the impoverished nation from the abyss of squalor, misery, abject poverty and disease.
MANAGING the economic and socio-political environment in South Sudan requires tact and high level of leadership discretion. The new leaders must know that the hope of a strong economic future in the absence of socio-political stability will be a mirage. It is, therefore, incumbent on the leaders to embrace compromise by bringing all the feuding ethnic and tribal parties to the reconciliation table as quickly as possible. The relationship between South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan must be normalised in the best interest of the two countries. It will be a grandiose illusion for the new nation to discountenance the need for symbiotic relations between her and Sudan.
AS things are now, South Sudan, even though controls 80 per cent of oil exploration in the old Sudan, has to contend with relying on the pipelines and refineries in the North as well as the Red Sea at Port Sudan for its exports. These conditions make it imperative for it to tread softly in its drive for the extraction and sharing formula of petroleum accruals with its neighbour.
IT is our hope that the leaders of the new nation will quickly go to work by harnessing the creativity of the South Sudanese towards bailing out the country from the gulf of social, political and economic decay.
http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/editorial/27236-south-sudan-the-tasks-ahead