The Nuba Used and Dumped

by Mohamed Kuku
Kadugli , South Kordofan
3/13/2006, sudaneseonline.com

The parable of the man who castrated himself to punish his wife.

The Nuba of the southern Kordofan are reaping the madness of their sons. They pitched their tents with the southerners during the war but are now licking their wounds. They were used like sugarcane, chewed and dumped after the southerners got what they wanted.

The whole story goes to the myopic Yusuf Kuwa who wanted to avenge his humiliation at the hands of Elmardi the then Governor of Northern Kordofan. Elmardi was able to get Kuwa impeached as the speaker of the Regional Assembly. Kuwa was ordered to hand over his official car to the next speaker. Kuwa could not stomach that. Out of personal vendetta he went to the bush and joined John Garang SPLA.

The other leader Abdel Aziz Adam Elhillou was attending a marriage ceremony in his village near Abu Karshola when a fight ensued between him and some Beggara boys who were attending the same party that night. He was beaten to a pulp. When he woke up the following morning he joined the SPLA thinking he will eliminate the Arabs not from Abu Karshola but alas the whole Sudan.

These two so called leaders started sending messages to the Nuba to join the rebellion, promising them the houses, shops and even women of the Beggara and Jellaba.
John Garang was a national leader with a vision for the Sudan. He was to build a new Sudan. Garang was opposed by his kin men who were fighting for secession of the south. He relied on the Nuba fighters to settle scores with his opponents. Since the time Nuba fighters splinted ( Mohamed Harun Kafi and co) and signed an agreement with the Government of Sudan Garang lost his fighting force. He could not win a single battle without the Nuba.

The Nuba who remained with him could not make use of this advantage. They did not have a clear vision of what they want. After nineteen years of fighting they came back to a destroyed land. They ruptured the social fabric of the Nuba mountains. They were oblivious of the fact that the Nuba do not constitute the majority of the people of the Nuba mountains. Even if this assertion is not true the majority status has been jeopardized by the inclusion of Elfoola , Elmujlad and Babanusa into southern Kordofan. The inclusion tilted the demographic strength towards the non Nuba.

The south is going to secede and Nuba will remain part of the North. The Nivasha arrangement did give them anything to justify their rebellion. Nothing is pain full more than that. The destruction of the infrastructure , schools , clinics and people who died can not be justified. The post of Governor was ceded to Nuba but they had that post without fight remember Haseeb, Baballah and Murkazu.

The sad story of the Nuba is like the parable of the man who castrated himself to take revenge on his wife. Poor Nuba Have you learnt the lesson. Who saves the Nuba from themselves.

Mohamed Kuku, Kadugli, South Kordofan

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