By peter gaisance,
Oct 7, 2019(Nyamilepedia) — I heard from social media that the Gaisiance’s idea of creating Eastern Nuer outlets by way of road and motorway construction from Gambella to Greater Upper Nile regions (comprising of Eastern Nuer, Central Nuer, Jonglie, and Western Nuer) will only saves interests of Shilluck and Dinka, and Kiir’s government in particular by strengthening its security and to further control and suppress those whom they have already oppressed. Frankly, this kind of fear is not justified. If you look at it from the security point of view and development, you will find that these types of roads or developmental projects across the middle of Upper Nile, and Nuer’s cradleland in particular, will be of great advantage to the Nuer people. If you want to take goods from point A to point B, for example, the construction materials, i.e. steel, cement, bricks, readymade window glasses etc., you need tarmac road which is the only reliable means if we have to use land transportation and this will also benefit everyone in the middle country.
The idea of 32 states designed to encourage ethnic cleansing and dominant will enlarge government and therefore it will not allow development. This idea of 32 states must be rejected and resisted on two grounds. First, we have no adequate resources to finance the development of 32 states and second, we don’t have enough population to fill all these32 states, unless you imported a new population from outside to come to live in them which is even worse. So why not stick with ten states? With these ten states, we still need immigrant workers who will be controlled with work visas and studies visas that are valid for specific time and is subject to renewable conditions, like they do it in the oil rich Gulf States and is perfectly manageable.
We should maintain and develop ten states only. Although we do know which land belong to which tribal group, we must embrace the idea of nationality first by law that will gives you entitlement to citizenship and the right to everything. Where you live does not matter. If you have a home in one region, you will be required to pay taxes in that state in which 70% will go to local public service there such as hospital, road, bridges, schools, universities, public light etc., and 30% to central government. If you have another home in another state, you will pay tax there as well depending on the income you earns there so that you’re not force to sell your land. What you should not do is to pay tax to your sub-group or clan. If you’re a rich person, there’s nothing that will deny you to contribute something to develop your clan but this will never become a compulsory or policy of any government. The old fashion of paying tax to your sub-group or clan should be abolished in part and maintains only in part, because it is used to discriminate and it prevented us to develop off for centuries since time memorial.
We are multinationals who happen to live in those regions. Whether we have peace or not, these sorts of roads construction must be encouraged to begin and continue. We are not advocating for any separation but if it happened that they create more than just federalism, for instance confederation in order for each nation-state to control their own destiny, we will not stop them or interfered with them, but let it not be on their terms, period. We are calling for rapid construction and development of these roads because nobody like to live outside of their homeland forever. The migration to other developed countries is not a solution to our problem and certainly will not eradicate the chronic diseases and stricken poverty in our community, only our homeland can elevated us to a better living standard and education.
We have experience of our people leaving their own homeland to seek refuge in other countries because of stricken poverty and persecution or civil war, but if we have enough resources to investigate what happened to them and their offspring after they reached their destination, you will find that a large majority of them became victims to the host country which took them and given them settlement in the first place. Our community become less and less in terms of numbers and activities, and their offspring are disappearing into other communities or worlds that is hard to imagine. There was a time when immigrants used to send billions of US dollars back home to help the ones they left behind but looking at it again, considering the number of immigrants who are settled in western worlds and the amounts they send these days, that number has greatly reduced. This could be due to a number of factors.
For more information you can reach the author through his email at gaisance@hotmail.com
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