The futility of war

This is officially my first generalized article on yenique's page, please tell me what you think. This year yenique is going to be a fine blend of everything(except gossip).

Since the APC and PDP political parties in Nigeria declared their presidential candidates there has been numerous little clashes and attacks by members/supporters of both parties. Could this lead to war? Some even swore to fight to death if their candidate doesn't make the seat. Some intellectuals seem to think it's just "cry wolf" but some of us are actually terrified of the possible outcome of the 2015 polls. I believe in politics of "person" in contrary to "party", the individual matters to me not his/her party but that's another story. If Ukraine could be devastated by war how much more Nigeria. I had the opportunity to study (a bit) about the Sudanese war and would love us to learn from their situation.

In the year 1983 war broke out in Sudan between the Central Sudanese government and the Sudan’s People Liberation Army. For the next 22 years the war raged on, one of the longest civil wars on record it was a brutal and very unfortunate occurrence in the history of Sudan. Lots of unnecessary blood were shed, families displaced and all these took its toll on the nation.

The cause of the conflict was deeply rooted in economic, tribal, religious and social factors. Like most other wars in Africa this war can be traced back to its pre-colonial days, the Northern Sudanese were Arabinised Sudanese and the people of South Sudan were majorly Christians as they were black Africans. The Arab Sudanese however wanted to impose their believes, religion and Laws on the Southern people and this resulted in a revolt. Their tactic was to exempt Southerners from the affairs of the government and enforce northern leaders in South Sudan.

Anger, and the want for freedom finally broke out in war and the goal of the South Sudanese was finally achieved Six (6) years after the war ended. The question here is “has Sudan been able to recover all it lost?” and I don’t mean wealth. The people who took long treks to Ethiopia only to trek back after another war broke out there, the child soldiers purportedly released after the treaty was signed and both parties agreed that child soldiers didn’t even create a fighting edge, the lost boys and all other displaced individuals.

Movies, books and loads of documentaries have been based on the true experience of the war, one of the biggest female models in the world Alek Wek was a Sudanese refugee and her recount of the war has been told so many times in several interviews. These tales from the horse’s mouths have inspired and motivated so many people the world over. Surviving hunger, walking seemingly aimlessly for years and becoming a child soldier are of course stories that would wet our eyes.  Ger Duany one of the Lost Boys Of Sudan (the numerous young boys who were displaced by the war and were given new life in other places) who eventually became an actor, model and philanthropist brought the experience closer home in the documentary “Ger: to be separate” in which he went in search of his family 18 yrs after his journey with into the unknown deserts  in want of a peaceful and new home. Political activist and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal uses his role in the 2014 movie “The good Lie” to tell his tale and make a point.

Has the sacrifices of so many lives, dreams, happiness and childhood paid of? Is the nation now where it was intended to be? Well I don't have a direct answer to those questions but deep in the hearts of both sides they know they have lost more than can be quickly/ recovered.

In these present conditions it would be wrong for us to open our eyes wide and ruin our country all on the basis of power. Sudan just like our lovely Nigeria has a lot of natural resources and they let war in, this is a wake up call....stop sounding the alarm for war, preach peace.

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