Once upon a time, there lived a Nigerian finance minister. He lived in an era when things were almost out of hand. Poverty was very high in Nigeria.
Those who get the opportunity of leadership must make sure they amaze the wealth for themselves. Corruption was very high. Others could eat while others go hungry. The privileged ones were those from the ruling side.
But so unique was that one Nigerian finance minister. Though other ministers like him were constructing, he wasn’t constructing. Other ministers bought big cars but he wasn’t buying any big cars. Others were taking their children to study overseas; he had his children study in Nigeria. Others were marrying more and more wives; he had only his one wife. Other ministers like him could move outside the country more than twice a month, but he could move outside the country if delegated.
This one Nigerian finance minister was despised by many. People looked down on him because he was so different from the other ministers. In his office, he had a very clean record. He accounted for everything in the office. Some of his subordinates were not happy about him. They were not happy because he could not allow them to eat what they didn’t deserve. The man was hated but he remained for his honest duty.
That Nigerian finance minister was not despised by the outsiders only, even his own family. His wife could complain from time to time that he was not improving their lives at all. They would have been in big places but they were just in a small house. She wanted to be like the wives of other ministers who could buy anything they wanted. Those wives lived luxuriously and she wanted to be like them. But the man knew his honest work. He remained firm for it.
The man’s children were just very unhappy about their father. They could ask their father why he could not take them overseas like other ministers’ children. They were not happy that they could study in Nigeria like ordinary children. The man could just encourage his children to work hard. He assured them that they would be successful like those children taken overseas. Nothing could shake him. He remained honest.
Years after the man’s death, his daughter applied to work in the same office he was working. She didn’t know that was the office her father was working from. The competition was very high. They went through the process of recruitment. They finished everything and they were told to wait for some weeks to get the latest information.
When the panel sat to discuss who should be given the position, the girl wasn’t among those who won the position. She did well of course but she didn’t do very well like the other two people. When the panel was going through the names of the applicants, they recognized the name of the man. They went to the documents and confirmed the name. Truly she was the finance minister’s daughter.
Learning the girl was the finance minister’s daughter, they went to check the record of her father. They learned that her father was the most honest man in Nigeria. He didn’t use the nation’s money for himself. He didn’t corrupt anything in his office. Though he died not really a very rich man, he left a legacy of honesty. His children didn’t go to America but he educated them with dignity. He respected his job and only accepted to do the right things. They were happy to find out that the finance minister had a clean record.
Going back to the panel, they straight away voted that the girl deserved the job in honour of her father. Her father wasn’t awarded for the good work he had done but the right time had come. All of them were very sad why such a great man should be forgotten by the nation. Anyway, they were happy the right time had arrived.
The following day, the girl was called. They asked her to tell them about her family. She started narrating everything about her father. She mentioned that her father was once a minister but had not constructed big buildings because he was doing everything for the community. The father didn’t take them to big schools in the West just because he wanted us to study with ordinary children. Finally, she concluded that her father was a very honest man, well respected for his transparent work.
After the girl’s explanation about her father, the panel leader exposed the result of the interviews to her. The panel leader told her she didn’t do well, but her father made it for her. They had seen the best life in her father. Her father was a finance minister but he didn’t take any money that didn’t belong to him. They believed that life must be in his children too. They concluded that the legacy of her father could give her more than she could think of.
The girl was in the air when she was going home. She finally learned her father was the best man. She could then enjoy the fruit of honesty! She promised herself that she must be like her father. She just didn’t understand that her father was preparing the future for them. The father knew he would die and his children would remain after him.
Dr. john Garang had left a legacy for South Sudan. He had fought for the nation. We call him a hero. We celebrate him every year. We have Dr. John Garang University of Science and Technology to remember him. We name our children after his name. Children take their model and they want to be like him. South Sudan is respected internationally just because of him. He was a leader with vision for the nation.
My respect goes to the great South Sudanese men and women who liberated us from the North. Many of them did not receive a burial or funeral. Their blood shed innocently in the bush. They sacrificed their all for the South Sudanese children. They fought without reservations. Today, we have martyrs day. May we continue to celebrate such a day in their honour!
For all of us who are still living and leading the country, will we be celebrated by the next generation? We will die any time from now, what will people say about us? Will they say we have brought peace in this nation? Will they tell the next generation that we brought justice to the nation? Let us think about this.
My dear president, Your Excellency Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, you are our father. Please, I know this country is in your heart. God chose to bring lasting peace to South Sudan. You were chosen to make unity rules in this nation. Your children are dying each day in all our states. In Jonglei state, cattle raiders are countless! Lou Nuer and Murle are killing themselves every day. Some Lou Nuer and Gawar Nuer in Ayod County are killing themselves too. Go to Bahr El Ghazal, people too die each day just because of cattle.
Are we born to die, my president? Can the death of our young people please us? Can war solve our problems? I can’t see what you cannot do my president. You accepted Dr. Riek Machar to come back to Juba in 2018. Thank you for the courage! Sir, you did that because you love South Sudan. Why can’t you apply the same love to end these unnecessary deaths in your nation? I believe you can, my president. You have the wisdom of an old man. In Africa, grey head is a symbol of wisdom. The young can plan for war, but the old can discourage it.
See all the seats in the government. The many taking those seats are you, elders. You are our elders with wisdom; why should we suffer in your hands, Sir? Remember I am your grandson. You need to help us. Hunger is killing us. My grandpa cannot eat while I am not eating. My grandpa cannot sleep on a bed when I sleep on the dust. Think about it, Sir.
Daddy, cease war! We need serious reform in our country. You need to know tribalism is our first problem. We need to erase the tribal mindset from our people. It is just a mindset. We can be changed. Everyone in the nation is serving the tribe. South Sudan belongs to every South Sudanese. Find ways to educate your people to change the tribal mindset.
Daddy put an end to poverty! Poverty is our big mess. Pay the civil servants. Empower young people to work. Promote education. It is education alone that will reform this nation. Otherwise, we will continue to have a divided nation.
We are all challenged. What will we be remembered for? Will we be remembered for good or bad? Be celebrated like Nelson Mandela. Be celebrated like Mahatdi Ghadi. Be celebrated like Mama Tereza. The intention of the Creator is that we should be celebrated after we die. Be kind to the nation.