It is not bad to Dream

Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa*

July 25, 2006 — As we dedicate this month and the first half of coming month, to the commemoration of our fallen heroes and our immortal martyr Dr. John Garang de Mabior, his shrewd words and speeches will continue to echo in our minds, and we will continue to recite it in our daily lives and at all times. Despite the fact that he has gone, but his words, legacy and guiding principles will continue to guide us and be at our disposal as a precious references whenever we seek, and that is why we name him undying martyr as he is always with us in our minds and hearts, and has numerous offspring to keep and execute the vision of New Sudan which holds the keys to the future of our country. He said “we have bright future ahead, let us unite and dream together; it is not bad to dream, for that is how we humans climb great heights and even greater heights we never dreamed were possible to be reached”. When he said this, he doesn’t mean that the path ahead is plain and smooth. No, he knew that there are lots of ups and downs which we have to confront and experience, but requires endurance, steadfastness and sacrifices to reach the great heights. And we cannot reach great or even greater heights unless we are united. And that was obvious in his speech to the other southern Sudan armed forces groups in Nairobi June 2005 that “we are not anybody’s burden; we are masters in our own house, we are confident in ourselves and of the future”. But are we actually, masters in our own house and confident in ourselves and of the future? I believe everyone has to answer this question in his/her own style. But if we have renounced ourselves to be masters in our own house, then obviously we have jeopardized and ruined the future of our children and the coming generation, and they will never be masters in their own house, and consequently, they will never forgive us in their life time! Thus, we have to have confidence and trust in ourselves first before others could, and have to demonstrate clearly to the world our ability that we are not anyone’s burden, and unite our fronts and be masters in our own house, not in words and egoism but deeds and set a better future and environment for our children. And that was best suited in the words of our late leader “let us collectively go down in history as the generation of South Sudanese that turned Sudan around by putting an end to discrimination, racism, inequality, division, exploitation, and marginalization at best, and slavery and casual murder at worst. Let us unite against ethnic, religious and racial divides to restore personal dignity for all”. Thus, we can’t turn Sudan around and restore personal dignity for everyone unless we are united. But what we lack as south Sudanese for our unity, and why not to unite purposely and put aside all our ethnical and political dissimilarity, and go back to history and rediscover ourselves, gain momentum to propel and snatch ourselves into history. By doing this, we would be able to know our factual origins, goals and then unite cordially to build our ravaged region with the little resources we have, and make everyone feel peace in his/her daily life. We are not least of the people on the face of earth, if others could unite intentionally why not us! And that was obvious when Garang said “I see myself as a human being no greater than any and inferior to none”. Thus, together we can dream and together we can make our dreams come true, if we can only see ourselves as a human beings and no lesser than anyone. Our region has been intentionally deprived from its wealth, and has been made one of the poorest regions on the face of earth, and it is still being ruined as we talk today due to our weakness and disunity. And our weakness and disunity is being exploited to the maximum, and we are now paying its bills and we will continue to pay unless we revive ourselves. We will never enjoy and prosper with the wealth of our region unless it is under our management. The dream of running our natural wealth will never come true unless we are united and steadfast.

It is not bad to dream, dream is our dynamic force to reach the greatest heights. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963 “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. He went on to say “I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and girls as sisters and brothers”. King’s dreams have come true, simply because they have determination and the spirit of struggle and were united and unwavering, and that was the true ethics of struggle far from egoism, ravenousness, corruption and nepotism. And I believe if King Jr. comes back today, he will see right there in Alabama and other states the fruits of his struggle, and he would be more than happy to stay rather than going back to his grave. But it seems that we Southerners have stopped dreaming with pretext that the war was over and self-satisfaction and empowerment has become our main anxiety. And that was obvious due to our profound destitution and lack of capacity, good governance, transparency and accountability. But I have to reiterate that there will be no democratic government in a society living under absolute penury and with high percentage of illiteracy, and even the so-called educated segment or individuals were chewed up with materialistic ideology and corruption, and that is the major and serious cancer epidemic in our society. This epidemic will continue to obliterate our dreams and hopes and hinder us from attaining our preferred goals unless it is eradicated. Thus, let us not betray our course for personal enrichment, and let us not change our skin or sell our fidelity because of wealth, and let us not permit this dreadful epidemic to jeopardize and ruin the viability of our region. We are not poor and unfortunate, we are rich and wealthy if we could only keep our integrity, solidarity and join hands together, forget our indifferences and concentrate on the development of our region. And as our late leader said “sometimes it is necessary to go back thousands of years to rediscover ourselves in order to gain momentum then move forward”. This is obvious, as if you wanted to know who you are, you have to go back to trace your roots and origin, and then acquire all the legitimate rights and pursue your dreams. This is exactly what we have to do, if we are lost, to know who are we and then join our hands and move forward with unified and dynamic force to let our dreams come true.

I think it makes no sense to say that Garang never had the chance to demonstrate his governing abilities! But rather it would have been said that he never survived long after CPA to oversee the implementation of CPA, to oversee implementation of SPLM strategy and ideology, to oversee the transformation of the movement into political system, and to realize his political conviction, and his dream of New Sudan and restoration of personal dignity for everyone through democratic transformation of Sudan. As there was no doubt, that Garang had demonstrated his governing abilities during the most critical times in the history of the movement over the past two decades, and indeed he was a man of great capabilities. And I believe no one can question the governing capacity, integrity and resolve of Garang and his approach to Sudan’s problems. And I could not agree anymore with those who are saying that “we have nothing to compare against, Garang didn’t survive that long of a time in Khartoum, only two weeks you can’t really say that one is better than the other”. I think time was or is not the issue, the issue here is the aptitude and determination to stay firm at the course. Garang survived more than two decades unwavering and more than three years at the CPA negotiation without ducking, and without giving too much concession to NCP. But after his death the SPLM leadership ducked less than a month before the NCP in the row over the run of two key economic ministries! Is this not comparison? I think there is great difference, and it is obvious that no one can fill Garang’s shoes. And some people say that things started going wrong with CPA prior to Garang’s demise. They might be right or wrong, but one thing was evidential when Garang said on January 9, 2005 that “I am a guerrilla, I take my time, you see” and went on to say “it has been a long journey of more than 5,000 years to reach Naivasha and Nyayo Stadium today”. This was a clear indication that Garang will never bow and duck before the waves of the NCP, as he knew precisely what he would do even if it takes thousands of years. And also he knew that the first phase of war was over, but there is yet another phase of war which has to be fought through words and diplomacy, and this is the very war which we are fighting at the present juncture, which started right away after signing CPA. Thus, people have got the right to voice their grievances and make their sentiments clear to the leadership, when they see that things are not moving at the right direction. The CPA is the dream of all marginalized people of Sudan and they are watchdogs to its implementation. Thus, our dreams will never come true, if we failed to stay at course, if we withered and if we abandoned the spirit and ethics of struggle.

* Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa is a Sudan Tribune columnist, he can be reached at [email protected]