Jesus said Forgive them father for they do not know what they are doing!

By Pal Chol Nyan

Opinion

August 24th, 2014 (Nyamilepedia) -First and foremost, I would like to remind those who might have witnessed or heard the interview conducted by Dhanojak and his opportunistic friend Deng Dau that it was not done in good faith and I am dropping these few lines to refute such claims.
The interview dwelled on the fact that Akobo originally belonged to Anuak and later occupied by Lou Nuer.This is absolutely absurd and nonsensical.Taking the readers back to the historical background, Akobo originally was inhabited by the dinka Padaang.Then when the Nuer migrated in masses from Liech,the current Western Nuer,Lou came and settled at Buongjak and the Anuaks were at Gala a cial.

It is assumed that this was before 1905.When there was an outbreak of small pox in Buonjak,the Nuer came to settle in Akobo after the Padaang had left. Sometimes later, the Anuak came in and out of the hospitality by the Nuer,they were welcomed with open arms and then they coexisted and intermarried. However, in early 1960s all the way to 80s,the Anuak,who are known for being provocative under the Late chief Jok Jok, started to demonstrate some aggressive behaviors characterized by cold blooded murder of people,cutting the breasts of cows and many more inhumane activities.

The Nuer shunned all these and continued to coexist with the Anuak. Exactly in 1983, a full blown war broke out between the Nuer and the Anuaks where the Anuaks were badly defeated with many losses of lives and properties.Then they crossed the river and went to Wanduar ,Buk and upto Pinyudo.Here the logic dictates that Akobo by right belongs to Lou Nuer.Coming back to the issue in question, Rev Dhanojak was hosted by the SSTV along with Deng Dau who just wanted to capitalize on the current political and volatile situation to insert his agenda.In this interview,Dhanojak started to pay homage to the Dinka Bor whom he said were killed by the Nuer.This is an indirect reference to the fact the Lou Nuer are not good and bloodthirsty .He went on to explain that Akobo is their own land and was invaded and occupied by the Nuer and for him to justify his case,he said they have three MPs in Bor representing Akobo constituency.

Now to set the record straight, the 2010 elections were not fair, free and credible.
Many of those MPS he is boasting about were elected by the same Nuer he is now despising and some of them made it to the State Assembly through Party and Women’ s list, a policy which was adopted by the SPLM to win more seats to keep them in power.

The reality is that in the 2008 census , the Anuak population was only 4,000 and this begs the question that can a population of that figure deserve to have three seats in just a State assembly if it were not because of the brotherhood and kindness demonstrated by the Nuer? This is ridiculous because one needs 12,000 votes to qualify for a seat in the State Assembly but this was not taken into an account.
The author of this article knows that now the government is inciting the small tribes neighboring the Lou Nuer to fight.

This situation is attributed to the revival of the claims of land ownership and on an assumption that all the Nuer are rebels’ supporters. Currently, the author is well aware that the Anuak,with the help of the Government, is training a tribal militia and the commanding officer is Omot Obol with an intention of attacking Akobo and retake the land.So,my brother Dhanojak is using the claim of Akobo being theirs as a Trojan Horse and is motivated by such thing ,which he does not know that he is doing it at the risk of his own people.He came out openly and ignorantly that the land is theirs and that they are marginalized.

Now Dhanojak who got the post of being Finance Minister in the name of Akobo has shot himself in the foot.I know that uncle Deng Dau, who is suffering from many complexes engendered by his chronic ill-health, would be happy to see that Lou are attacked and massacred by Anuaks because the dinka Bor has old scores to settle with Lou Nuer.

The likes of Deng Dau are politically bankrupt and for them to earn a living, they are bound to dwell on irrelevant issues so that they are seen to be saints in the government of Salva Kiir. The 1991 incident was a fight between factions of the SPLA and to remind Uncle Deng,the Late Arok Thon Arok was the commanding officer and deputized by Cdr Simon Gatwec Dual .I am sorry that the civilians were caught in cross fire.Deng and Dhanojak are not aware that they are destroying the government of Salva by inciting tribes against tribes.

Why should I fail to discern that Dhanojak and like-minded are working day and night to create confusions among the innocent civil population for survival? I am advising my elder brother Dhanojak Obongo to keep away from exposing his people to danger.

I think it is good that the Nuer of Akobo and Anuak continue to coexist and live at peace with each other.If Dhanojak wants to take the Pibor case as a blueprint to present his case,then it is an indication that the guy is less informed and to educate you my brother Dhanojak,the Anuak of Akobo do not have a case like the ones of Pibor.

I thought having quit the church to serve in the government for so long,you would by now be a person of high caliber to differentiate facts from fictions.
As a well-informed person, I could very well remember that your representatives in the SSNLA wrote a petition to the president of the Republic in 2009 claiming that Akobo belongs to Anuak but to their utter disappointment and the lack of sufficient and convincing material in the petition,it was brushed aside and the case laid to rest.

Last but not the least, we cannot be scared by such utterances and my advice to the Anuaks who are in their right minds is not to focus on nonsensical statements issued by ego-centric politicians and to continue to live peacefully with their brothers and sisters in Akobo.
I want to conclude by an English adage that says ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’’.

The author is a member of Akobo Youth union and reachable at palcholnyan@yahoo.com.