Peaceful co-existence between North and South Sudan as independent nations

By Jacob K. Lupai, SOUTH SUDAN

JUN 22/2010, SSN; It is now clear that the debate on separation of the South or unity of Sudan will not go away until probably after the referendum on 9 January 2011. The referendum will see the question of separation or unity put to rest. Hopefully the North and the South will put the past behind and concentrate on mutual benefit. The future has a lot to offer the North and the South if only both can join hands and cooperate in the best interest of the masses of both regions in the Nile Valley.

According to the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) of 9 January 2005 between the government of Sudan representing the interest of the North and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) representing the marginalized, it is only the South that will vote in the referendum on either to remain united with the North or to opt for an independent status as a nation in its own right. For the region of Abyei in the North the referendum is either for Abyei to remain in the North or to join the independent South. It is a long story to narrate how the South and Abyei have the right to decide their destiny.

In brief, however, the South had fought two devastating wars (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) with the North expanding almost 40 years at the loss of estimated 2 million southerners and about 4 million others displaced with some seeking refuge in foreign lands not to mention the enormous destruction of property and infrastructures. History also has it that the North used the South as a lucrative source of slaves, another factor the North would not like to hear because it makes unity of Sudan unattractive to the South.

The South was granted the right to self-determination by fighting for nearly 22 years. It had earlier demanded the right of self-determination through peaceful means but the North turned brutal and unleashed its war machine on the South murdering innocent civilians in thousands in a shameful attempt to occupy and plunder the South. In response, the South took on the North until the North swallowed its empty superiority complex by accepting the right of self-determination to the South. Unlike Darfur, which is singing the song of unity while being destroyed, the South is on the way to freedom and independence from Negroid Sudanese Arab neocolonialism. The right of self-determination to the South will be exercised through a referendum.

The North is deeply worried about the South using the right of self-determination to vote for independence in the referendum. This may explain the North’s concerted effort in mounting a vigorous campaign of lies and intimidation for unity of Sudan. It is worth noting that it is the North that is mostly demanding the South to vote for unity. It is not difficult to see why this is so. The North has been always paternalistic to the South. It treats the South as its backyard. The South, however, resents such an attitude.

The North which has callously starved the South of development since 1956 will find it difficult to convince the South to vote for unity. The South will not make again that fatal mistake of voting for unity of Sudan when it was conned in the Juba Conference of 1947 and when the southern consent was badly needed for independence of Sudan. When the North maneuvered out its way to snatch independence through deception, it then treated the South with contempt. In a united Sudan the North will always treat the South as an unwanted junior partner. As a junior partner the implication to the South is obvious.

The North’s call for unity is not genuine as 54 years of independence have shown. The worry of the North about the separation of the South is not all a problem to the South. The South had wanted the creation of conducive conditions for unity but the North in gross negligence and insensitivity instead created the opposite conditions conducive to separation of the South. Now who is to blame?  It is well known that the North always absolves itself of responsibility blaming instead colonialism that ended some 54 years ago.

The noises that are being made for unity are nothing but noises of arrogance that should be treated with contempt they deserve. It is only unbelievable that after 54 years of marginalization and neo slavery there are people including those bribed southerners still think that this time around unity will work. Let it be very clear to those simple-minded vagabonds lacking principles that unity will not work when Negroid Sudanese Arab racism is being played out in the open to the exclusion of the Black race of Sudan and religious fundamentalism is being relentlessly pursued to the utter marginalization of non and moderate Muslims.

The North is a place where telling lies is something not to be ashamed of. Lies are now being used to make unity attractive to the South. Scaremongering is also another tactic being applied to frighten the South of separation. In addition veiled threats are used to intimidate the South into submission. What seems not to have been understood is that the South through experience is an expert in northern way of thinking. The northern pretentious niceties towards the South are like small rains that fool the plants. The experience of 54 years of independence of Sudan are more than enough to make the South an expert in northern behavior. Lies and bribery might have worked for the North in the past but the South that had fought two bitter wars and in addition to the difficulties in working with the North in peace time is more than enough for the South to say a big no to unity.

Unity with the North is equivalent to slavery of people in their own place of birth. The North can only impose unity on the South through the use of force of arms as it did during its military occupation of the South prior to the CPA. Even then the South put up a ferocious fight. Now with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) as the army of the South, the North will have to calculate the risk of military occupation of the South carefully.

The CPA has recognized the right of the South to self-determination which is a credit to Aggrey Jaden, the southern leader who had first called for self-determination to the South in the round table conference in 1965 in Khartoum. The conference was frustrated by the northern sectarian parties. The North resisted all attempts for self-determination to the South. The CPA was brought about by the powerful hand of the international community. The North had no choice but to go along probably as a strategy of buying time.

With all that having been said and with the referendum barely six month away it is important to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual trust. It may seem difficult at first because relations between the North and the South have been strained like those between an elder and a junior sister. The North was well exposed and better educated in the colonial era while the South was a closed district and lagged behind in development. When independence was granted Sudan, the North assumed the role of an elder sister patronizing the South as a junior sister. This would not have been a problem had the elder sister recognized that the junior sister also needed support to develop to the level of the elder sister for self-reliance. This never happened hence the North as the elder sister and the South as the junior one drifted poles apart until 2005 when it was recognized through the CPA that the South had the right to freedom as the North had during the colonial era. For the first time the South got a formal agreement on self-determination witnessed by the international community. The North’s paternalistic behaviour to the South was coming to an end. The South could now decide its own destiny without the northern paternalistic behavior and with no occupation army of the North in the South. In theory the North should be watching from the sidelines which way the South might choose to go. However, the North seems determined never to give up the fight for a united Sudan. It is still making a lot of noise about unity.

If all the signals are reliable it is inevitable that the South will separate from the North to become an independent nation. What will be left of the North is best not to speculate. It is better to think that the North is capable of looking after itself. As for the South the newly found status of independence will be very exciting. Southerners are confident that they will prove their critics wrong. Independence will bring in new thinking and a new culture of conducting the state of affairs in the South. One other interesting point, however, is what will become of the North and the South as two independent neighboring nations. Separation of the South is likely to make the North very agitated. After all the North will have an eye on the abundant southern natural resources. This may be one tempting scenario for the North to encourage a proxy war of destabilization of the South. The South therefore should not be complacent.

It is possible that there may be peaceful co-existence between the North and the South as two independent neighbouring nations. However, depending on the level of the South’s preparedness, the North may react negatively to separation and independence of the South. The North may go on the offensive against the South as a punishment for choosing to separate. The only deterrent is for the South to be on red alert. On the other hand the South may need a robust public relations exercise to counter North’s propaganda against separation and independence to the South. The same approach should also be used to promote peaceful co-existence between the North and independent South for mutual advantage.

In conclusion the North and the South as independent nations will need each other for their common interest in the Nile Valley. The North and the South are the closest of neighbours and do not have the problem of communication which is very important in building bridges between the two nations. To promote peaceful co-existence each one should not mistreat the other’s citizens in its territory. In this way and in the long term all that had happened will be history when people begin to enjoy the fruit of peaceful co-existence.

The author can be reached at jklupai@googlemail.com

COMMENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the website.