I concluded my previous article by saying that the Sudanization of the Sudanese mentality should have preceded the Sudanization of the posts of (1954 – 1956). Had the Sudanese traditional political leaders’ mentality been Sudanized first before the Sudanization of the 800 plus posts, Sudanese people’s situation would have been different. The human mindset is the source of the happiness or unhappiness of humans. If human mind is not perfectly well set or structured, the repercussions will be very harmful and deadly, likewise, if it is perfectly well set and structured, people will enjoy the fruits of the quality life. National mentality begets national attitudes, and national attitudes breed national behaviours and practices. Sadly, Sudanese politicians are always in short supply of national mentality. They always fall prey to the structures of their backgrounds. Their ideological backgrounds affect their attitudes, behaviors, and practices, their spiritual and religious backgrounds affect their attitudes, behaviors, and practices, their cultural backgrounds affect their attitudes, behaviors, and practices, their socio-economic backgrounds affect their attitudes, behaviors, and practices, their tribal/ethnic backgrounds affect their attitudes, behaviors, practices, and their ways of thinking. A structural diagnosis and reformation are desperately needed to be made to the Sudanese mentality.
Had the British colonial system, before leaving Sudan, called the hand-picked members of the two Sudanization Committees for a short national orientation session, the distribution or the Sudanization process of the 800 plus posts would have taken a national dimension. Had the British colonial system injected some national will and genes into the vessels of the Sudanization Committees’ members, Sudanese status would have been quite different. I firmly sense that the British colonialists were more national than the Committees’ members themselves. National education must come back to the Sudanese Educational curriculum and syllabus. We acutely lack national seeds and genes.
No enough research, scientific papers, or studies have been made on the Sudanization Process of 1954-1956 because our current suffering and crises are highly attributable to the mess that took place in the Sudanization process. Not much light has been shed on it. Is it intentional, or is it what? I don’t want to be judgmental and I don’t want to jump into any conclusion nevertheless I strongly feel or believe that there is something fishy behind this shortage and scarcity of writings on this important aspect of our history. Is it because there is vested interest in not uncovering what actually happened in that process? Do some of our Sudanese professional writers ethnically and geographically belong to that particular region of the Committee’s members and that they wittingly don’t want to raise this critical issue because their ancestors had been deeply involved in that conspiracy and that they were part and parcel of that historical complicity? As we say locally, will raising this issue bring heavy, dusty air to them? Some guts and courage are needed on the part of the Sudanese professional writers and historians to shed enough light on the Sudanization process of 1954-1956 because so many ambiguous and blur aspects need to be uncovered. In a nutshell, the colonial system formed two committees. The first one was formed for Sudanizing the civil service and was chaired by Mr. Ibrahim Yusif Sulieman, while the other Committee was formed for Sudanizing the military and police service, and was chaired by Lieutenant General Ibrahim Aboud Sudanese people eagerly and curiously want to know the findings and outputs of those two committees. The repercussions of the findings of those two committees are behind the hardship and suffering of the Sudanese people. As usual, Sudanese leaders and politicians are heavily addicted to obliterating and hiding facts. They are addicted to not calling a spade a spade. Liberate yourselves and tell the Sudanese people the findings of those two committees.
The Committee of the Dismantling of the Empowerment of the July 1989 Regime should not confine its activities just within that time framework, if they really mean to restore the Sudanese stolen funds and looted assets and properties to the Sudanese people. They should go beyond and behind those limits and boundaries. Historical injustices did not begin in 1989. No, they are deep-rooted in the history of Sudan. The Committee of the Dismantling of the Empowerment of the July 1989 Regime should widen its mandate and stretch its responsibilities to engulf the year of the Sudanization Process of 1954-1956, if we really mean to establish just and sustainable peace. Historical structural injustices stretch back to 1954, so let us be honest and courageous enough and go back to the first chapter and first page and first line of the first page of the Sudan History Book. Let us go back to 1954. That was the year of the beginning of the marginalization process of the Sudanese people. When we talk about marginalization, we don’t talk about the material part of it but rather the structural part of it that generates this material part. Structural injustices are about the institutional injustices that have been inflicted on poor and vulnerable people through lop-sided policies, unfair constitutions, biased laws and by-laws, unfair strategic plans, and suchlike.
I conclude by saying that, I firmly believe that this ongoing nonsensical war will be the last war in Sudan providing that the hard lessons that we have learnt from this barbaric war must be kept by heart by all of us without exception. This current brutal war has negatively affected every Sudanese individual, every Sudanese mother, every Sudanese father, every Sudanese wife and husband, every Sudanese household, every Sudanese family, every Sudanese village, and every Sudanese town and city. Hence, structural root causes must entirely be removed. Starting from the year 1954 up to the present time is the right beginning. All political parties and religious entities have contributed in one way or another in this dilemma. All military regimes have participated by one way or another in the complicity. Civil society organizations are not immune from the blame as well; they have their share in the crisis. The Sudanization process of the 1954-1956 is responsible for this nonsensical waw. Some people might get astonished or blindsided by this statement, but simple analysis will help you with that conclusion. The power structure or power disequilibrium in Sudan is solely attributable to the Sudanization process of the posts. In my coming article, I will hopefully illustrate how the repercussions of the Sudanization process have contributed to the current war and Sudanese dilemma.
Stay well
Glory or Dignity Through a Barrel of Gun is Not Possible.
Mahjoub S. G. F.
Kampala, Uganda
