By Chol Peter Majoh
The country that once flourished and caught the whole world’s attention few days after her independence, South Sudan, is today living Shipwrecked like will never recover and come back to her first glory.
Our beloved country, so arrayed in finest glory, endowed and featured with resources she needs for a first World country, I can’t imagine it’s like a perpetual hell! We cursed her, talked ill against, and casted our Hope away from her, but now, it has come a time to say enough is enough.
We need to get back to the old path and get the world’s eyes back on us again. The World was scared of our rapid development, and of our then unwavering love for this country. All most all countries in the World, each, desired or expressed interest in having an Embassy in our country. Others pledged to support us. This was a sign that the World wanted to befriend us and benefit from us as we do from them, a bilateral kind of thing.
But now, It’s a different story!
Things have changed and we have the World, which once was scared of us now, abusing us. In other words, the people who saw in us a glimpse of hope to help them, have now turned to be our enemies, and supporting our rebels and inciting communal conflicts in one way or another.
We truly fit in the situation of Israelites’ greatest City of their days; the city that begun to grow rapidly and declined as time passed. See how God’s prophet had to describe her condition: “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!”, said Jeremiah.
This is exactly what has happened with and to us. Thus, we weep, and no one pays attention to our cries: “She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.”, the prophet continue (Lamentations 1:2)
It has something to do with us today. We really tried at the initial point of our independence, even before that, during our pre-independence era, we never had a plan to bring our Nation to ruin and desolation the way we have it now. It was a few days after we made a taste of our independence that things began to fall apart. We now weep, criticize the government, curse ourselves and doing unthinkable that can’t help us.
But despite all these, we must stand firm and courageously proclaim that enough is enough. Let me not bore you so much here. What I want to emphasize much about is that we must rekindle our hope together to say our country must come back to her first glory.
It has been a tough time since then, the blood has flown, lives are lost, and country’s reputation tarnished. However, that must not be continued, we must get back on the track, embarking on our first goal for this Nation. Our political agenda must be brought to its real and core aim. The voice of the nation, that’s to say, our parliament, must take its task to uplift the nation back onto her feet. It’s well, this opinion, with our situation, for we have the reconstituted legislation in place. And the members therein must know that the healing of the nation begins with them. In their hands, lies the prosperity and failure of the nation.
It wasn’t an accident that our flag flew high on the 9th of September 2011. We must remember this, and that will help is bring back our beloved Nation to her first glory. South Sudan could really claim; “I sit as a queen. Desolation and destruction shall stand afar and will never see me, for I have a people united to defend me and my sovereignty” Just if we wake up from the slumber and do something for her. The president, from his Speech on 30th, last month, is doing great to have the Nation back on her feet.
A nation is not a nation without people. People make up a Nation and thus a nation so called a Nation. We can make Our country, South Sudan a place to be proud of. Yes, We can. We can make the World respect us again.
Believe me, this is not a miracle, it’s possible if we join hands like we did during the nearly three decades of our struggle against the Khartoum government for the independence we now have.
Finally, with all the ongoing projects, the Juba-Terekeka-Yirol-Rumbek, Juba-Bor-Ayod-Malakal, Juba-Torit-Kapoeta, Luri bridge and Luri highway, etc. And the likes of Aweil Scheme, Anzara agro-industrial complex, Mangalla Sugar scheme, Currency center in Rumbek, Malut Sugar scheme and etc are a sign that we are rising again. There is a new dawn. And now is the dawn approaching. All we need to do is to willingly embrace it, the new dawn.
I want to assure myself and all of us, that we are matching to a dawn. Surely, we’re. Our president, this time, deserves a big Viva, a big thank, for such projects, those happening and those ones in the pipeline to kick off soon.
Not Alas! but we can say, Kalas, we are matching to the South Sudan we have been yawning for; that we long to see.
The author is reachable via Email cholpetermajo@gmail.com,
WhatsApp: 0922295373