Why Underestimate What the Nyala Government Is Doing?

Mahjoub Fadl Badri

In the recent past, we underestimated what Colonel Dr. John Garang said to Ustaz Ahmed Bilal Al-Tayeb, editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper. During a an interview about his movement’s objectives in the peace negotiations with the Sudanese government, Garang—meaning what he said—recounted an incident: A prominent member of his tribe accepted an invitation to a wedding. Upon arrival, he sat down, planted his spear in the ground before him, and said emphatically, “I want a leg of this bull here.”

The host then presented him with a hefty piece of beef. Garang smiled and said, “That’s exactly what I want.”

Well, this short story is a clever indication from Garang that he was raising the stakes in the negotiations to achieve his goal of separating South Sudan, but with words that wouldn’t be used against him. This is despite the fact that many were, and still are, talking about Garang’s commitment to unity!

And today, we see an attempt to replicate Garang’s idea by the Rapid Support Forces government in Nyala—a comparison, of course, with the significant differences. Neither the Tassis leaders possess Garang’s vision and charisma, nor does the external support he received from influential countries and organizations compare to that of the rogue statelet, Chad, the Central African Republic, and mercenary gangs, even if they were brought from the farthest reaches of the earth. However, the Nyala government is undertaking some activities that resemble State-sponsored activities, such as holding secondary school exams or establishing civilian administrations in areas under its control in Darfur and parts of Kordofan, may appear to be a farce that ends when the show is over, but they also send messages to the international community that they are a legitimate government and are calling for recognition. The Government of National Accord, now in its second year, is suffering from a crippled economy, devastated infrastructure, and a national currency that is nearly worthless. It continues to gauge public opinion, which is burdened by the demands of daily life, especially as returnees want to rebuild their lives from where they were before the war, which has ravaged everything in its path. Production has ceased, smuggling, particularly of gold, has increased, fuel shortages have worsened, electricity supply has been unreliable, food prices have skyrocketed, and most basic services have become unavailable.

Such necessities cannot be addressed with complacency and delay; they require a great deal of determination and resolve. Here, the media plays a pivotal role in raising morale and maintaining balance with the demands of this critical period, as our country is engaged in war. A global existential crisis looms, one that will determine Sudan’s very existence. This underscores the urgent need to form a wartime government, rather than the current proliferation of initiatives that are ultimately futile.

Do not underestimate the actions of the Nyala government and its militia affiliates abroad. They are relentlessly pursuing organizations and intelligence agencies, one by one, just as they once fawned over embassies, one by one! Simultaneously, some have begun to infiltrate our country covertly. This is in addition to their elements who have managed to infiltrate the state apparatus during this period of chaos. These are the very people to whom Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta was referring in much of his public discourse.

The greatest fear of those who care is that the blood of the martyrs will be shed in vain, and the struggles of the mujahideen will be wasted in appeasing foreign powers that wish neither us nor our country well.

These powers equate our army with the Dagalo militia, and it is not inconceivable that this rogue statelet will buy off some of the countries that recognize the Nyala government. This would solidify the perception that there is another Sudan, alongside the one the world knows.

Slogans like “removing the 1956 state” and “fighting the remnants of the old regime and the Islamists”—meaning all of Sudan—are akin to demanding the entire leg of a bull when the real target is a large piece of meat, which in this case is Darfur.

O Allah, have I made myself clear? Bear witness.

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