It is up to South Sudanese leaders to make their country ‘an
island of stability’ in Africa or risk following the example of several other nations
on the continent endowed with fantastic riches yet bogged down by gut-wrenching
poverty
Published: 13:54 August 23, 2016
As the world’s youngest nation and Africa’s 54th state born on July 9, 2011, South Sudan emerged from five decades of war, destruction and untold human suffering where roughly 2.5 million people mostly civilians were killed and more than 5 million others forced to live in squalid refugee camps in subhuman conditions. This was a sacrifice to be remembered.
And remembered it was at the day of Independence when thousands of people poured on to the streets of capital city, Juba, in celebration and the country’s leaders rubbed shoulders with their African counterparts who came to share South Sudan’s moment of glory.
The
future looked rosy for the oil-rich country despite the enormous amount
of work needed to build a nation from scratch and to heal the wounds
caused by the long years of struggle.