I humbly start writing this article which is composed of 5 sequential parts in order to shed some light on the issue of Sudan National Project which has become a real obsession to the entire Sudanese people, a real nightmare. This article titled, ‘Sudan National Project, The Missing Link’, is just a proposal for a national platform for more constructive dialogue among Sudanese people about the National Project that aims at rescuing the bleeding Sudan from its catastrophic dilemma. Since independence, Sudanese politicians have kept beating around the bush with regard to this critical issue, ‘Sudan National Project.’ Sudan National Project is more said than done. Sudanese people, particularly the politicians, have kept calling for a national project as a foundational bedrock for stability, sustainable peace, and sustainable development but without taking any serious or practical actions or steps, just paying lip service, whereas some other political parties and politicians intentionally avoid talking about this national project for reasons they know.
It is said that, there is no one universally accepted definition for the term ‘national project’. National project means different things to different nations and different people. Hence, there is a dire need for a clear definition for this term because we belong to these different nations and different people. Therefore, it is imperative, as Sudanese, to agree upon a definition that carries our Sudanese flavor, taste, uniqueness, and nationalism in order to help us unleash our dormant potential.
In this article, I will try to raise some welcoming and unwelcoming questions that might help the Sudanese people in building a robust Sudanese National Project that, I strongly believe, will rescue the Sudanese nations from their current unfavorable and undesirable situation. The questions are as follows:
What is national project? Is it a project or a program in essence? What are its components or ingredients? What are the basic characteristics of an ideal national project? What are the national strategic issues and challenges that the national project is going to address? What is the strategic goal that the national project is going to achieve? Who are the stakeholders of the national project who will participate in building it? Are our political parties really national? What are the national agendas of the national project? Why do some political parties and politicians fear national project? Have our political parties truly had national agendas? Are our political parties competent enough to positively participate in building a real national project? Have the names of our Sudanese political parties had any negative of positive connotations with regard to the national project? What is the relation between the national project and state-building? Are political parties’ visions, missions, goals, and principles consistent and in harmony with the ones of the national project? Is national project a top-down process or bottom-up process? What are the components of the Sudanese state and what are their relations with the national project? What are the role of the civil society organizations in building the desired national project? What is the role of the private sector in building the desired national project? Has Sudan Military Establishment had any role in building Sudan National Project? Does Sudan National Project pose any danger or challenge to any of the regional and international forces?
These are some of the questions that I humbly believe that they will truly help the Sudanese people in building the ‘Sudan National Project’. I, together with you, will be answering the above-mentioned questions in the coming sequential parts of my article. I, therefore, beg your pardon if I missed some points or questions, hence, I request you to raise them in order to enrich the proposed dialogue. I claim no perfection or wholeness in raising these questions, surely there are missing links we need to reconnect them and gaps that we need, as well, to bridge. I will make my contributions in answering some of these questions. Surely, my answering to the questions is just my points of view which are subject to your constructive criticisms and positive comments.
I conclude this part of my article by saying that we are living in a turbulent, dynamic and ever-changing world which is full to the brim with pumps and lumps where survival is only for the fittest and the most organized entities and powerful countries. The weakest entities have no place here. Nations without national projects get perished and lost. National project is the device that can maintain and sustain your presence and existence in this turbulent world. Nations equip and empower themselves with robust national projects in order to countervail the regional and international forces of exploitation, corruption. and marginalization as well as the local forces of oppression. National project aims at redistributing the sources of power in favor of the poor and the disadvantaged. It is an intervention that pools the strengths, talents, and local capacities together and mainstreams them towards achieving the shared vision of the concerned nations. National project aims at combating this notorious hate speech which has started dismembering our social fabric and cohesion. National project is about diversity management of the Sudanese nations. It is also a panacea for the lop-sided development policies which have accompanied Sudanese strategic planning processes for quite a number of years and which led to the historical structural injustices which are still haunting the peripheral areas’ people. National project creates a conducive environment for healthy dialogue among the Sudanese people. National project is about national reconciliations. National project improves spiritual structure of the Sudanese people’s mentality as well as improving each one’s relationship with his/her Almighty God. National project is about No Religion is better than a Religion, No Color is better than a Color, No Tribe or Ethnic Group is Better than a Tribe or Ethnic Group, and No Sudanese people are more equal than a Sudanese people.
These are just a handful few of the advantages and positive impacts of the national project that will be trickled down on the concerned people of Sudan. This is just an introduction to lay out or level the ground for your constructive contributions, insights and remarks.
I’m sincerely looking forward to your positive and constructive contributions in order to enrich the dialogue process. National Project building is not a one-person task. Please, let us all pull in same direction, time is really running short, there a lot to do.
Mahjoub
Kampala, Uganda.
mahjoubferen@gmail.com
