The Ramifications of the Proposed National Name Changes: The Case of South Sudan
5 min read
Machiek Akuochpiir Chayier
The National Name Changes and Its Consequences: Revisiting of the Past, the Case of South Sudan.
By Machiek Akuocpiir Chayier, Juba, South Sudan
Friday, December 17, 2021 (PW) — As the people, are we prepared and serious about abandoning the colonial history – what are the burdens that comes with leaving out vestiges of the colonial past, in the making of the national history?
I asked that question because our leaders are constantly jeopardising the situation of the country.
In so doing, as of January 2011, the members of the steering committee on independence of the Southern land of the Sudan decided to name the new country as “Republic of South Sudan”.
The people who later identified in large numbers as South Sudanese by virtue of the new republic’s name did not have any complaints whatsoever, not because they were ignorant of the past history and how to name themselves; but because they had no choice in decision making out of the many options that were available as the possible names of the country, South of the North Sudan.
Aren’t the people supposed to have the consensus on this matter today?
However, following December 11, 2021, there has been a debate on the web by South Sudanese about another ongoing debate of the Country’s name change; steered by the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar in one of his meetings, with party members and other ruling elites, as the First Vice President was quoted saying; “South” is not a name but just a direction. So we will debate it what is it that we want to call ourselves. I hope you will accept my People’s Republic of Sudan”, reported by Eye Radio.
Doesn’t this indicate that, there has never been any emphasis put across the importance of leaving out the traces of the colonial past from our connected history as the people? The absolute answer is a Yes!
The country’s name changes comes with a great prize; and this prize was paid by the South Sudanese who struggled during war of independence. The 99% who were later, lucky to see the light at the end of the tunnel; voted to become the sovereign nation 10 years ago. That is the process of history. But the decision making for the country’s name was left with the elites at the helm of power.
This generates another question, why didn’t the ruling elites, not leave out the vestiges of colonialism such as name of the country “South Sudan’, during their decision making, and choose a more indigenous name such as “Kush”, which was an ancient name for the people in the geographical are of today’s Sudan as a whole? The Arabs gave us the name Sudanese at independence of the Sudan.
The same way that the Greeks called us Ethiopians; all those people named us as the Black people and our people accepted their naming throughout history.
When people want to identify themselves in a certain mannerism of name; there must always be an intrinsic value perceived in it, such as national identity and ancestry, that connects one to his/her roots back in history. People must know that, most African nations managed to revert to either their indigenous or ancient names on independence, only a few countries whose leaders had no firm principles of Pan-Africanism remained with colonial names.
It is a good idea for us as the people to redefine ourselves in this post-colonial-era. When Sudan got independence on 1stJanuary, 1956, the indigenous people of Sudan in their diversity were not allowed by the colonial masters to decide for themselves what they could call themselves as the people, for many were voiceless. This included the people in the Southern region of Sudan; who are today, South Sudanese.
In conclusion, If anyone would want to change the country’s name from the current to the new one; that person must show the true national philosophy and the visionary mission for the people of South Sudan. Let there not be reactionary leaders of the country. People should understand the situation of Swaziland on international stage and how it’s economy has been affected since the changing of the country’s name by its ruling Monarch, the King Swati III. The exemplary effect is how the tourist intending to travel to the country have been failing to explore the country’s online markets after their portals and websites got changed to reflect a new name, eSwatini. Therefore, in history, we have learnt of so many nations that have the name change through revolutionaries, that overhauled everything.
Categories: Nation, Country, Republic, South Sudan, Name-change, Nationalism, Vision, Philosophy, Misc.
The Author, Machiek Machiek Akuocpiir Cayier, is an Emerging and Awoken South Sudanese, Elite Intellectual, Influencer, Kushitic-Jieng, Poet, Philosopher, Model, Songwriter, Singer, Rapper, Translator, Interpreter, Senior Software Engineer and a Science Communicator. He is currently an undergraduate pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering at the International University of East Africa in Kampala, Uganda. He can be reached through the email below, machiekmachiekakuocpiir@gmail.com
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