OpEd, Sports

Rights are not granted; they are fought for

By Ustaz Mark Bang

One of the American philosophers once said this quote that, “Rights are not granted; they are taken by force.”

Here we know that when I am starving yet tell nobody, I will never get anything from anyone, as the Bible scriptures say in KJV. Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: even in governance, people first lobby for position, and this they are appointed.

When we were at war with Sudan, our rights as South Sudanese were not granted but taken by force. To look at the historical background of the Sudan-South Sudan civil war, we find that our rights were violated, and this led us to the process of taking up arms and fighting. However, rights are not granted but taken by force. Look here!

Wars in Sudan are often characterized as fights between the central government expanding and dominating peoples of the periphery, raising allegations of marginalization. Kingdoms and great powers based along the Nile River have fought against the people of inland Sudan for centuries. Since at least the 18th century, central governments have attempted to regulate and exploit the undeveloped southern and inland regions of Sudan.

Some sources describe the conflict as an ethnoreligious one where the Arab-Muslim central government’s pursuits to impose Sharia law in 1983 on non-Muslim southerners led to violence and eventually to the civil war. Douglas Johnson has pointed to exploitative governance as the root cause.

When the British governed Sudan as a colony, they administered the northern and southern provinces separately.

The south was held to be more similar to the other East African colonies—Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda—while northern Sudan was more similar to Arabic-speaking Egypt. Northern Arabs were prevented from holding positions of power in the south with its African traditions, and trade was discouraged between the two areas. However, in 1946, the British gave in to northern pressure to integrate the two areas.

Arabic was made the language of administration in the south, and northerners began to hold positions there. The southern elite, trained in English, resented the change as they were kept out of government.[35] After decolonization, most power was given to the northern elites based in Khartoum, causing unrest in the south.

The British moved towards granting Sudan independence but did not invite southern Sudanese leaders to participate in negotiations during the transitional period in the 1950s. In the post-colonial government of 1953, the Sudanization Committee had only six southerners in its 800 senior administrative positions.

The second war was partially about natural resources. Between the north and the south lie significant oil fields and thus significant foreign interests (the oil revenue is privatized to Western interests as in Nigeria).

The northerners wanted to control these resources because they lived on the edge of the Sahara desert, which is unsuitable for agricultural development. Oil revenues make up about 70% of Sudan’s export earnings. Due to the numerous tributaries of the Nile River and heavier precipitation in the south of Sudan, it has superior water access and more fertile land.

There has also been a significant amount of death from warring tribes in the south. Most of the conflict has been between the Nuer and Dinka, but other ethnic groups have also been involved. These tribal conflicts continued after South Sudanese independence. The same episode is happening at this time that we are a nation.

The percussions for unforeseen circumstances here and after would be very high. When one is in a holding position, he/she uses the power to expose vulnerable people to suffering. I am happy with it at all. We are a nation with a diversified cultural background of which none of us has to be deprived.

The point being, it’s really easy to give clients what they ask for. It’s much harder to really understand what the client is asking and then make sure they are doing it to serve their best interest. Manager-managed versus member-managed? That’s a good question, and there are real legal consequences down the road. A good operating agreement? It’s more important than you might imagine.

If you’re interacting with any third parties, i.e., partners, clients, investors, etc., you owe it to yourself to verify that whoever you’re doing business with will actually have properly licensed attorneys and paralegals helping you.

As I understand it, prosperity has to be perceived against an eternal backdrop. Prosperity that lasts only as long as this life on Earth is futile. What gain is it really, if you die, and your name lives on? Buildings with your name on them will all crumble one day. Your memorials will fade; you will have succumbed to the power of death.

True prosperity is only found in the power over death… and death came into human history only through Adam and Eve’s rebellion against The Most High God Who had given them life. Rebelling against the Lord of Life gave them and their progeny (all of us) over to the power of death. Through Jesus, God has opened the way to true prosperity. Owning lots of “stuff” is not true prosperity. “Public Staunchest Ally”

The writer of this article is a human rights activist, writer, and professional teacher.

 

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