By Malek Arol Dhieu
A person who comes once in a generation has very many definitions. A person who comes once in a generation is that person who sacrifices his life just to see his people living in freedom.
It is that person who risks his own life because of others. It is that person who offers shoulders to the failing people to lean on. It is that person who extends a helping hand to the falling and fallen people to rise them up. It is that person who offers his back as a ladder for other people to climb up. It is that person who puts first the interest of his people, not his own interest.
In life, not everyone is remembered. There are a few people who are remembered while a majority just go like that. They are remembered in the circle of their own families and the remembrance stops there. Such people who are remembered do not work for themselves, but they work for their people.
Such people who come only once in a generation are Dr. John Garang de Mabior of South Sudan, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kenneth David Kaunda of Zambia, Samora Machel of Mozambique. Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Emery Patrick Lumumba of Congo, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Idi Amin of Uganda, Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Martin Luther King of America, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro of Cuba, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
The list of genius Mahatma Gandhi of India, Mother Teresa of India, Johannes Gutenberg and Albert Einstein of Germany, Chinua Achebe of Nigeria. The list is too long. Up to this very moment, such people are still irreplaceable. Most of them died some centuries ago but none of those alive now is equivalent to them. Taking Jomo Kenyatta as an example. His biological son became the President of Kenya but still, he has not made the sacrifices that his father made, including his own life.
Africa is already independent. It does not need one to take up arms and liberate the country for him to be someone who comes once in a generation. There are a lot of ways to become what they call the G.O.A.T; the Greatest of All Times. And there is what makes one be called the G.O.A.T. In South Sudan, John Garang came only once in a generation, and ears have been opened widely, expecting someone to pop up and unfortunately, no one is prepared to get there.
But the good news is that someone from sports is preparing to get there, and that person is Luol Deng. When you put the map of your country in the atlas it never existed before, then who denies you from being the G.O.A.T? It needs nothing, but commitment and consistency to be that person who comes once in a generation. Serve people and expect nothing in return. Let your salary be “thank you”. When someone tells you “thank you” for the work you have done, it is more than a salary.
If you are an aspirant, lobbying very hard to become a person who comes once in a generation, you must have South Sudan at heart. Each South Sudanese must occupy a special place in your heart. You must feel every citizen’s pain. You must be fair enough to treat everyone equally. You must have the qualities of the person who comes once in a generation. When you serve everyone with a good heart that alone is a ticket to becoming the GOAT. To be the G.O.A.T., you must serve with bloodless hands. You must lead by example. You must be a people’s person, not a loner.
Thanks for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.