“The Model of the Sudanese Unity”

Mahmoud E. Yousif:

There were some important examples in our history, such as the one which used to happen in the Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM), where during nineties, there was overwhelming feelings among some for needs for intellectual activities parallel to the military one, we heard low talks about an intention to appoint Cdr Yousif Kuwa Makki as Secretary General for the Movement, it was though that could create changes within the intellectual stagnancy in the Movement, maybe his sickness and death never help achieving that.

Within that chucky environment, nobody could dare to make any critics or suggestions, because it will be considered entering forbidden zone, while our love for freedom was great, from this perspective came my great interests to the book written by Dr. Peter Adok Nyaba in 1998, where he was greatly censured, many things happened, but the book broke that barrier, and created an environment for some possibility freedom of thought.

There was needs to create intellectual dynamic to deepen the Movement ideology and get means to accommodate different and many contradictions particularly between unionists and secessionists, and types of political, economical and social structure that will be followed, with many issues that needs to be tackled, particularly that related to Sudan history, what happened and why? What were the positive and negative aspects in Sudanese history? If there are negativity, what was the factors that caused it? Is it possible to change that?

There are many questions needs to be answered, such as what is the characteristics of the Sudanese society or societies? Are there common links among us as Sudanese, and what is the degrees of these links? As Sudanese do we like each other’s or hate each others? What is the Africanism in us as a nation? And what is the Arabism in us as a nation? What was the level of integration that took place within these structures during the past centuries? Is cessation is good for Sudanese and why, and what is the benefits behind that? Is there positive aspects from the unity of Sudan, and what are these? What was the type of unity called upon by the SPLM/A, and what is the final objectives of it? Did SPLM/A was established to achieve that unity or as a reaction to division of South in 1983? Or just to divide the North in order to get separated regardless of what may happened in the North?

Other important questions, why Nuba, Fung, Darfurian and Northern joined SPLM/A, even with that different proportionality? What was the aspirations of those joined Movement? Did it been defined? And answered? Are these aspirations and objectives still alive? Who were those who came to received Dr. John Garang at the Green Square in Khartoum on July 8, 2005? Were they Africans? Or different constituencies of the societies? Did they wants to establish racial state in Sudan? Or they were aimed at greater Human objectives? What is the relationship between SPLM and the While Flag League? What was the While Flag League? Is it an African Revolution or collective for all the Sudanese? Who lead that Revolution? What was the coordination between the mutinied (or revolution) Sudanese battalion led by Abd al-Fadil al-Maz and the While Flag League lead by Ali Abdu al-Latif? If there is no relations as doubted by the Japanese historian Dr. Yoshiko Korina, then why the British dissolved the While Flag League? What happened after that, and why? How is that and related to representation of Sudanese at that period? We answered several of these in our previous article (New Sudan Vision, Background of the Call).

Who are the Southern currently lived in the north, what is their numbers? What is their position towards the unity and secession of the South? What is their role in the unity of Sudan in the past, present and future? As a bases for Sudanese unity, who do have the right to deny them the right to vote in the referendum?

There are many questions no body trace them, although some tried to answer them, such as: What was the objective from the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA)? Is it for NCP to rule the North, while SPLM the South? Or to unite Sudan? Or to separate the South? Or for the democratic transformation, which many were been deceived by? What is the position of both South Kordofan and Blue Nile, if South secede? Are these two areas part of the North or South? What does the two areas leaders wants? What is the desire of the two areas populations? What is the effects of both areas on the whole Sudan? What is the number of populations of both areas in other northern areas? Are there other nations who passed through our experience or we are unique case? Can Islamic religion formed a barrier between us? Can South formed a state without Muslims inhabitants? All these questions and more required truth and frank answer, but by whom?

We can’t expect someone like Al-Tayeb Mustafa to faithfully replay on these questions, he tried replaying on some, but from Exclusionary policies he grow upon and became older with it, but the most important question, did both partners tried to make unity attractive, as hoped by the Sudanese people? What was the African role and dimension in what was happening and will happen? What was our role as Sudanese in what is happening? Are we to be driven to unwritten destiny like sheep, by groups knows nothing except hatred? Or we do have a saying and we should participate in making it, and how?

I always look to Sudan as the miniature model for human experience, regardless of difficult challenges facing different actors, the failure or success of its experience is a criteria for the ability and development of human species to adopt, change, develop and waiver for dignified life for the benefits of the coming generations. There are great amount of racial barriers, religions tried to dissolved, unfortunately it was deepened in some groups which didn’t developed by its concepts and humanity, just look at the two polar source of Judaism and Islam, to understand this fact.

There were painful experiences accompanied changes in racial concepts after the second world war, it used to be touched in schools to emphasized and deepened its meanings as a human experience. Unfortunately, these were not absorbed from the perspective of repetition of human experience, writers and Sudanese thinkers failed in analyzing many negative aspects existed in the Sudanese society, which takes tribal and ethnic shapes, except a little whose voices were not listened due to louder politician voices, 

Isn’t strange to have tribal clubs in the national capital, and since sixties? That was part of heritage behaviors of some conservative, to protect racial, cultural and behaviors perceived purity, because these clubs were not frequent by other tribes, I remember on October 30, 1974, we went to watch the famous match between Muhammad Ali Clay and George Foreman at Kinshasa, Zaire, in one of these tribal clubs in Dum Alshargia (Eastern Dim), although the club was near to Khartoum Institute College (currently Sudan University), but there was a feeling of great distances parting us, it was mid seventies, and came the salvation, these became a num, the tribal feelings overcomes the national belonging, within such environment, human backwardness signs start appearing!

Recently a friend from Abyei asked me, why there are no Philosophers in Sudan? I told him, we used to have giants, like Alsalmabi, Prof. Alnzir Dafalla, .. to Dr. Francis Deng, unfortunately we were dragged backward and credit to our politicians, till the field is crowded with lousy, while the talented are working to fulfill living!

Human experiences have proved, there is a distances between thinkers from one side and politicians and militarism on the other end of the spectrum, unfortunately this distance is very small or don’t exist in Africa, except in rare cases, like the late Nigerian hero Ken Saro – Wole Soyinka, and our great late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, and rare others! 

 Let us see sample of African intellect towards the CPA, particularly the Pan Africanists, what was their role in making unity attractive in Sudan?

Sudan with it is geographical location, and diversities is the suitable place for smelting differences. In Sudan many ethnicities were dissolved, from the east came Ethiopians, Eretria’s, from North East, came the Arabs crossing the Red Sea, From the North the Egyptians, North West came the Libyans, the Moroccans  and the Mauritanians, from the West came the Chadians, Nigerians, Niger’s, Mali and many others, from the South West came several tribes from the Central African Republic and Congo DRC, from the south came the Ugandans and Kenyas in south east.

All these countries do have racial and intermarriage relations with Sudan, where the phenomena produced, factors which help to create environments of tolerance and many common elements, which was the bases for the formation of concepts through which Africans personality and Union could have been build. Let us only compare popular and official relations that link Sudan with above mentioned countries till eighties (Eretria didn’t exist), and compared it with what link Europeans after the second World War, in less than fifty years they leap over many barriers, to live in more human society! While we retreats in Africa and Sudan, and on the verge of defragmentation, what is the benefit of African Union if it can’t work to strengthen and deepen such ready structural elements of unity such as Sudan? Then what unity dose African Union works to achieve? If it failed to achieve such simple unity, then it better named “African Laceration”!

The CPA stipulated making the Unity attractive in Sudan? It stipulated that, the interim period should be given to make unity attractive, this role is not to be carried out only by Sudanese and their government, Africans do have great role in that, more than the Arabs, IGADE partners, it is not only for presidents and countries, not only by bringing money and investments, there are other things which are more important than these, things that were linked with concepts and values which had emerged during the past centuries, from different common relations that dominated among the Sudanese.

 Most of Southern tribes, such as Dinka, Nuer, Shiluk, Baria, etc .. thinks to originate from Kush Kingdom, does these tribes retreats as one unit? Or it left groups, heritages, cultures, and concepts behind, to become part of present composition? There was attempts to get ride from these components which becomes part of Sudanese personality. The supposed major role for African intellect was to study the Sudanese case, to bring up different positive and negative aspects which formulated relations between north and south, for better understanding of the Sudanese case, and the degree of strength that tie them together, and what diverge them apart, then when the voting for self determination comes, every Southern will be on full awareness of what he will vote for, and the danger and benefits of that on his live?

Mahmoud E. Yousif
former SPLM member, and former Chairman of NSIC
Independent researcher
yousif_474@yahoo.com

SUBMITTED BY:
BF.Bankie
Sudan Sensitisation Project (SSP)
www.bankie.info