South Sudan: Writers and musicians should not bother the peace with trivialities
6 min readBy Majok Arol Dhieu, Juba, South Sudan
October 29, 2018 (PW) — I’m tired of becoming a junior in every field I joined. In 1999, when I was forcefully recruited into military, I was called a recruit which in other words means a new junior soldier undertaking training.
By the time I resumed my studies at Mayom-abun Secondary in 2001, I was called a mono by those in senior two. After I graduated from High School and joined one of the humanitarian aids organizations, I started at the most junior level.
Now, the most famous bands in my area are provoking my situation rottenly by sight-reading some of the songs those that I see could cause disunity among the societies. I’m swaying between the two trade-offs—-the join or no-join musicians’ field decisions and the fear is that I’ll become another junior with such contours on my face.
Had it not been because of this fear, I would have shown them how songs and lyrics for unity are composed, not in a way that exaggeratedly praising my own clan at the expense of other societies.
In fact, no-one should composed a song that would drag their dignity down, but songs are not supposed to be compose to the same extent that collective efforts of the entire community is owned by one clan as their strengths, e.g. the case of Lou area (part of Ciec Land). Ciec land is being protected by everybody in the area from Adior—–now a county, to far north of Pagarau payam and it has been music into my ears by such musicians that, the area is only protected against marauders by one clan. How did that happened? Shy!
If for instance the neighbouring communities reported to the authorities that their cattle are being raided by unknown gunmen, and then the other communities round Lou’s area point their fingers at the most self-traded brave people; would it serve a very useful purpose? I think, not, and this’s why we should not overlook the contribution of other communities if we need to forge unity among our own society. For example, if we recall every fighting that took place in the area and counts by identifying the names of the fallen heroes, we’ll find that, they all came from every clan for the common purpose.
In the most recent song, in which the composer drummed its importance into our heads about the people who penetrated Lou’s area from neighbouring villages of Agar, Atuot, Bor and Nuer from Panyijar as new settlers who were proselytized by Tiok, Cirbek, Ajiec, Jok and Cuecjak, this song in particularity if observed closely, one who is not familiar with history would say that these people might came some few years back, but their resettlement was long time ago before Bhar El Ghazal was given such name. In short phraseology, their coming to Lou’s area was not very far away from the time when all those who are currently inhabited Bhar El Ghazal crossed the White Nile unless, if one is not informed. Who wants who to go where?
Already, the people whom the composer had musically touched severely and equally soothed in the same song, the likes of Gocuk, Aŋääc plus the rest who resettled in Lou’s area knows their roots very well and the evidence is that one of my colleagues from Lith Community had composed a song that goes this way, “Ku muɔny Nuer ee kë ye pïïr ë weŋ ee, ok aril puöth cï Durfor ku Pajiɛk wɛ̈r nɛ̈k ŋuɛ̈l”. Meaning, This man who hailed from Nuer tribe, his offspring live a comfortable life because of cattle and that, they are braves as Durfarian and Pajak’s clan who killed a great and fearful dinosaur.
This alone shows that everyone in this area knows their roots and it’s unnecessary for people with rudimentary knowledge about inhabitants to drag their names through the mud when of course their years of existence in the area have gone beyond twelve centuries.
Today, it’s hard, if not impossible for few boastful communities who claim to be peace-makers during day time and connived with their uneducated youth at night for wrong activities, to stop rewriting history in their own image and misinformed their offspring about the nonexistence superiority, but a little has to be done such as this article, to inform the public about this exaggerated claim of dominion and suchlike.
This culture of clan’s hegemony can simply run into future since works of art are preserved for posterity and it will takes energy and souls to correct it. Although I know that those entire attempts have gone pear-shaped several times, there is a fear now that we are handling our societies as an egg on the table of which if not controlled properly, would rolls off.
If the communities disagreed, this amounts to hatred and if the hatred conceived, it give birth to deaths and this’s why we are always willing to have a control over situation before it goes wild. It’s said that the lizard that sleeps forgetfully, wakes up in the mouth of the snake, I want to remind you all that, let’s work as an agent of peace by informing our illiterates youth on how to behave towards their neighbours and to ease composing songs those that sideswipe others.
To control the digression, I’ve no great deal of sympathy with the preservationist who seeks to maintain diglossia and other old traditional beliefs. Though we speak one language, still some of us have a slight habit on how they shaped the same language within their own para-language which is taken by their diminutive figures for an aggression.
We’ve to change from old habits little a bit further in order for us to make our area a pearl of great price, in other words, to make Lou’s area a place for peace. In order to do this, we’ve to talks tirelessly to our youth, olds and youngs, to compose songs of unity and not songs for division.
Ironically, and quite cleverly, champions of stagnate feeling of dominion over others and other worse traditions such as musical extravaganzas against the names of other people are celebrated in town here, I’m aware of this especially those who run into fame at the break of the dawn are the ones who have been supporting illiterates move. Let’s stop it completely because it’s destroying us.
I think that many of my readers would prepare to bear witness to the sense that my call for discouraging songs which create disunity is the usual nonpareil.
Yours truly, The Side Mirror.
The writer is a right citizen of the country who can be reached at email majongaroldit@gmail.com
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