By Kutei Jnr,
April 02, 2016(Nyamilepedia) —- Addressing tens of thousands of “enthusiastic South Sudanese” who thronged the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on 26th March 2016, the most pivotal point Dr. Machar discussed with his audience was urging them to use their intellectualisms to rename our country as he sets the ball rolling for the search of our lost identity.
According to Dr. Machar, a man who is known for having championed the struggle for the independence of the then Southern Sudan now Republic of South Sudan, Democratization of our country, Peace, Development and Equality amongst other fundamental requirements of a sovereign State, Dr. Machar awesomely stressed how inferior we become when we say we’re “South Sudanese”, adding the difficulty some people have by saying Southern Sudan instead of South Sudan.
Southern Sudan as of now is Blue Nile, White Nile, Southern Kordofan, Eastern Darfur and etcetera, areas which geographically lie in the Southern direction of the Sudanese territories. Whatever we say about either South or Southern Sudan gives us sense of inferiority to Sudan since Sudan remains “Republic of Sudan” and we (Sudanese in the South) do not have any constitutional rights to compel the Republic of Sudan to rename their country to North Sudan.
That would have made it look like the country is duly divided, just like it is the case with the former Korea, there is Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK), now, officially North Korea and the Republic of Korea now officially (South Korea).
In that respect, I felt Dr. Machar has hit what for so long, has been in my mind and I have been discussing with many of my friends regarding the name of our country. I personally have been of the opinion that our country be renamed to either People’s Republic of Sudan, Democratic Republic of Sudan or Federal Republic of Sudan with the exception of United States of Sudan (I have never had that idea crossing my sharp mind).
Our identity must remain “Sudanese” as opposed to the subordinating identity “South Sudanese” as it is with the countries I mentioned above or countries of the former Congo (Zaire).
There is now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, Kinshasa) and Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and their identity remains the same “Congolese” despite being two different countries and the same applies to the “Koreans” for both South and North Koreas, the reason is so simple, none of each divided state wanted to give up their “identity”.
In consent with H.E. Dr. Riek Machar that, let us not allow ourselves to be looked upon with sense of inferiority by the world and our brothers in North (Republic of Sudan) by calling ourselves “South Sudanese”. As did our chairman, I am echoing his call upon all the intellectuals of our country to rethink, debate and find a suitable name for our beloved country and let us not surrender our uniqueness and identity to others by calling ourselves “South Sudanese, to me “we are Sudanese and our country is “Federal Democratic Republic of Sudan”. I now conclude that search for our lost identity has ended and our lost identity is retrieved, just awaiting approval through an approval by the country (referendum) but not a decree.
God bless Federal Democratic Republic of Sudan.
The author can be reached through kutei2015@gmail.com
The statements, comments, or opinions published by Nyamilepedia are solely those of their respective authors, which do not necessarily represent the views held by the moderators of Nyamilepedia. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the writer(s), and not the staff and the management of Nyamilepedia.
Nyamilepdeia reserves the right to moderate, publish or delete a post without warning or consultation with the author(s).
For Opinions and News Reports: info@nyamile.com
For Technical Support: support@nyamile.com
To Advertise with Us: advertise@nyamile.com
For General Inquiry: nyamilepedia@gmail.com.
4 comments
By the way , what is the meaning of Sudan and what is that name implies to which class of people in Sudan ? If you know the answer to my question , who are the real Sudanese : the Arabs or we the real black African descents of Sudan?
I don’t think the name is a problem regarding South Sudan,we may continues called Republic of South Sudan. The people who own the country are the problem if we utilize, we have to embrace but if abuse it,that’s where the problem came from. Republic of South Sudan is already valid to me but the capital must be change to different places since so much blood had spilled in it. It should be relocated to Malakal.
There should be no any other name apart from South Sudan, where were you then?
I don’t usually comment on anything that concerns either of the two Sudan states. But as a citizen hailing from Western Equatoria, I have personally struggled with the name “South” Sudan, because firstly the word “South” Sudan or “South” Sudanese takes too long to pronounce. Where as to just say Sudan or to be identified as just “Sudanese” is way much shorter and easier.
Secondly, having been born in Sudan way before the separation, I feel forced to add the word “South” to my Sudanese identity. When I say my ‘Sudanese identity’ I don’t mean Khortoum Sudanese (North Sudan), but just Sudanese because I was born long before the separation. I’ve had many debates with my fellow Sudanese (“south”) over this issue. Those who haven’t been very understanding think that I’m not patriotic enough, thought the opposite is actually true.
And lastly, the “South” of anything always appear or is always considered inferior to the “North”, just like we consider the backsides of our bodies as being slightly lower or inferior than our front sides. So we definitely need to drop the “South” from our country’s name!