SWOT Analysis: Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan Region of Sudan

Towards an Economic Development Strategy for the Nuba Mountains

Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan Region of Sudan: SWOT analysis
SWOT Analysis, is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It is used in this context to allow crude evaluation to prospects of development in the Nuba Mountain Region.


Strengths:

- Unexplored abundant natural resources, including precious minerals.

- Decent seasonal annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 800 mm

- Fertile untouched land in many parts of the region.

- The geographical centre of Sudan with potentially easy access to
the North, the South and Darfur.

- Hard working population and have historically been able to maintain
self-sufficiency over the years.

- Culturally tolerant and diverse population, with track record on
peaceful coexistence of local ethnicities along with African
religions, Islam and Christianity.

- A great deal of autonomy in political management under current
peace arrangements.

- Relatively healthy population. No major economically debilitating
diseases such as AIDS and Ebola are known to be endemic to the region.

Weaknesses:

- Extremely poor or total absence of infrastructural facilities.

- Underdeveloped human capital with high illiteracy rates.

- Lacking experience in political administration and planning.

- Absence of entrepreneurial capacities and effective middle-class structures

- Weak political and civic structures.

- Underdeveloped or non-existent public services

- Absence of a development plan or workable political vision

- Legal framework developed under CPA does not fully reflect cultural,
social and historical realities of the region.

- Malaria is endemic to the region, as it is the case all over Sudan.

Opportunities:

- Attracting national and foreign investment.

- Developing of oil reserves and mineral mining industry.

- Big investment in agriculture and agro-based local industries.

- Tourism based on the uniqueness and traditional tolerance in the region

- Attracting back wild life which used to roam the region

- Bridging between the South, North and the West.

Threats:

- Possibility of resorting back to violence if frustration is
not properly addressed.

- Possibility of violent frictions between the two main social groups
of Baggara and Nuba.

- Central government tendency for more centralisation rather than
devolution of real governing powers

- Huge uncertainty in regards to the result of projected
self-determination vote in the south.

- Vulnerability to increased instability in Darfur.

- Environmental degradation.

- Increasing pressure from the surrounding environmentally stricken communities

- Possibilities of corruption in the face of almost ubiquitous poverty.

Towards An Economic Development Strategy for the Nuba Mountains

Firstly: A Development Strategy for the Nuba Mountains shall aim at formulating a long-term perspective framework for social and economic development in the region aiming at realising the following:

A significant increase in income and service entitlements for the general region’s population to realise a lift above poverty levels and onto the path of development.
Mobilisation of resources in a context of an environmentally sustainable development.
Community coherence, intercommunity harmony and governance

Secondly: Enhancement of Economic Capabilities

An economic development strategy for the Nuba Mountains is basically a poverty elevation strategy. It is based on attacking poverty from two fronts. The income generation front and the service provision front. The strategy is meant to be intrinsically sustainable (based on mobilisation of local resources and integration of local economic activity and local communities) and is also meant to be consistent with the sensitivity of environmental position of the region (in acknowledgement of the peculiarity of local environment and its status as being on the verge of collapse).

Thirdly: The income generation component of the strategy will be based on the following:

1. Support for agriculture as the driving force by developing an overall agricultural development plan based on the following:

a. Bringing traditional farming into line with more environmentally friendly practices.
b. Support for more choice of crop mix available to the farmer
c. Offsetting the prevalent crippling seasonality by a multiplicity of ways including encouragement of adopting a market oriented animal farming and horticultural practices in a context of mixed farming.
d. Introducing credit both individual and communal
e. Total change to the current absentee farmer tractorized schemes
f. Laying the basis for a long term plan aiming at bringing to an end the current practice of nomadic animal production system. The current practice is proving increasingly unsustainable environmentally and in odds with intercommunity harmony and governance. Such a plan is basically a social engineering plan which must be based on democratic non-coercive measures and must be community-lead. Such a plan is envisaged to work through scheme of incentivisation and disincentivisation, which will render the old practise less viable economically and induce the adoption of the new scheme. Sedentariation, revillaglisation may form salient components of such a plan.

2. Broadening the wage employment base by developing an overall industrial development plan for the area. The industrial plan must avoid past approach and focus entirely on development of industries which are based on local resources and integrate with locally based economic activity. A good example of such industrial activity is when you have oil-based industries such as soap production which makes use of locally produced cotton seeds/groundnuts/and/sesame producing the raw material for animal feed to be supplied to locally-based animal production farming. Cotton may as well go into spinning industry which in turn helps rise of textile industry.

3. In recognition of the fact that any augments to be realised in income entitlements could easily be eclipsed by a decline in entitlement to health, education, sanitation and clean drinking water services; a service plan is to be drawn along those lines. It will be necessary for most of these services to be free at the point of delivery at the early stages of the implementation the strategy at least.
The service plan is expected to bring together public funding (central and regional), Non-governmental services deliverers (local and foreign) and local community efforts. Such a service plan should give guidance and long-term perspective to the current ad hoc and isolated gap-filling efforts.

Fourthly: - Infrastructure;

Road building program will be the main focus of the infrastrural support for the strategy. The region has historically suffered from isolation as a result of the lack of road system. Obied Dilling Kadugli road which was started in the sixties has yet to be completed even to its current rudimentary standards. The road building programme aims at opening up intra-regional as well as access to all neighbouring regions. Obied Dilling Kadugli road to be extended to Bahar El-Ghazal region through Talodi. The East West road across the region from to link Kosti Obied road to Kawda Kadugli and Westward to South Darfur through Western South Kordofan (Lagawa and Al Fula). Feeder roads may have to be built to connect to the mountain’s road cross.
Water supply program to be developed to support the agricultural plan and other aspects of the strategy. Mini dam building and other water catchments and water preservation techniques are expected to form an important component of the program. Lessons are expected to be learned from the experience of Miri and Talodi old dam. Nowadays, literature is available on successful experiences in the Savannah region from as far as Mali.

Fifthly: - Energy;

Demand for energy is expected to rise many times over its current levels. Current capacities to deal with that are non-existent. Use of alternative energy sources will be encouraged but, oil will remain the main source. The region may have to be allocated a sufficient quota from oil produced in the region. Oil refining installations may have to be considered.
Currently, wood and charcoal is heavily used as domestic source of energy and in some businesses. Preservation and development of the regions vegetation is an important feature of this strategy. Removal of the vegetative cover and reliance on it as source of energy must be discouraged.

Sixthly: - Funding;

Sources are
1. Central government contributions
2. The region share in oil revenues
3. Local revenues
4. Inward investment national and foreign
5. International aid NGOs

Seventhly:- Land
Current land arrangements under existing laws and conventions have not really been subjected to proper examination. Current disputes are of a relatively minor nature. That situation is expected to change, as use of land intensifies. Pressure will be expected to rise. The two main sources of dispute are presently prevalent the clash between nomadic and sedentary communities and the dispute between rain-fed mechanised farming and local communities.
Demand and subsequent pressure on land in the Nuba Mountains is expected to increase substantially due to the implementation of development plans and the following factors:

Population growth of the area and subsequent growth in use of land and local natural resources.
Areas on the immediate vicinity of the mountains to the North, East and West are already under immense pressure environmentally. There is evidence that those areas are undergoing intensive environmental degradation and are increasingly failing to support livelihood for these communities, who are finding it necessary to enter into the mountains where vegetative cover and water supplies are relatively in a better shape. That is a potential for more pressure on land and possible dispute.
The spread of mechanised farming schemes has contributed to the pressure on the land and the environment. Techniques used for this method of farming will have to be subjected to substantial change in all its aspects.

Eighthly: - Tourism and cultural Development
Nuba Mountains has traditionally been attractive to tourism. The rich cultural heritage and the uniqueness and diversity of the region nature and communities shall be drawn on to develop and promote tourism. Currently there is no such a thing as infrastructure for tourist industry. No hotelling capacity to speak of, no other supporting infrastructural facilities. Private and foreign investment must be encouraged to act as the driving force.


Ninthly: - Phasing Out of the Strategy

Such a strategy may have to be phased out into a relief, resettlement and reconstruction phase, followed by capability building phase and development phase. These phases are not necessarily mutually exclusive phases. They rather serve as milestones for practical purposes.


Tenthly:- community driven approach

The very people that the strategy means to service have for long suffered poverty and marginalisation. They may have often been viewed as the target of poverty reduction efforts. Community Driven Development approach, which the strategy must innovatively adopt would turn this perception on its head, and treat poor people and their institutions as assets and partners in the search for sustainable solutions to development challenges. Communities must have control over planning decisions and investment resources to community groups and local governments. Programs operating on such principles of local empowerment, participatory governance, demand-responsiveness, administrative autonomy, greater downward accountability, and enhanced local capacity must be the way forward. Experience has shown that given clear rules of the game, access to information and appropriate capacity and financial support, poor men and women can effectively organise in order to identify community priorities and address local problems, by working in partnership with local governments and other supportive institutions.

Kadugli's Trio – Tragic Ends

Kadugli's Trio – Tragic Ends
The Choice of the Army as a Career for three
Sons of distinguished Kadugli’s dwellers
To many youngsters growing up in Kadugli of the Nuba Mountains in the sixties and seventies, application to the Military Academy was a second choice. If one didn't get higher scores for university then the military would be a handy second choice. After all, a military officer holds a decent social status and with relatively shorter period to graduation, the dream of an early salary and an early marriage was often too tempting to be declined. But, in comparison to the promise of a career in medicine, engineering, law or banking it remains a second best. However, for Kadugli’s trio, it never felt like that. They looked as if they were destined to it.
Hamad Abdel Kareem, the last survivor of the trio died in a landmine incident in the Nuba Mountains. Hamad is the son of late Khalifa Abdel Kareem, a well-known personality to Kadugli’s dwellers and beyond. Khalifa Abdel Kareem managed a suit-tailoring shop in Suk Kadugli (Kadugli Market). Kadugli has always maintained a vibrant buzzing market with its two sections, the Outer Market (Al Suk Al Berra) and the Inner Market (Al Suk Al Juwa). The two parts of the market are linked with a corridor street of about half a mile length. That is where you would feel the vibrancy of the place. The street is so crowded with people going up and down between the two markets. It is so busy, the locals say that you cannot walk the length of the street without stepping on someone else foot or get your legs tangled with something. If you were really short of luck that day, the encounter could be with a donkey. The Outer Suk is where local produce is brought to market from the surrounding hills and plains. There you would see the riches of the mountains and the variety of their gives. The Inner Suk is where the modern shops are, elevated off the ground with cement platforms, shinny and clean. Merchants were Greeks, Coptic, and Northern Sudanese. The merchandise on display in this Suk ranges from ready-made clothes to transistor radios to bicycles and lorry spare parts.

Khalifa Abdel Kareem’s shop, in the Inner Suk, acted as a high society café to the elites of Kadugli. Politicians, journalists and government officials, either resident or visiting all frequented Khalifa Abdel Kareem's shop in the sixties, seventies and eighties. Khalifa Abdel Kareem was a well spoken stylish educated or could be self-educated man. He used to entertain his visitors with his light sprit and knowledge, political or otherwise. The likes of Philip Abbas Gaboosh, Mahmood Haseeb and Nuba General Union MPs from the sixties Parliament were all visitors to the Khalifa’s shop. As kids we used to pass by the shop’s veranda hoping to catch a glimpse of those distinguished figures. Al Khalifa headed a big family. Many of his progeny are educated females. The eldest of his daughters is Malikat Aldar. She was a school headmistress until her death in the seventies. Hamad is the eldest of his sons. The family lived in Al Malakiya the biggest of Kadugli’s suburbs, if you like. Al Malakiya means the residential area for civilians, as oppose to another of Kadugli’s residential areas, Al Radeef, (RDF) meaning Retired Defence Forces.

In Al Malakiya, Khalifa Abdel Kareem’s family lived next door to his closest of all friends and the life-long companion, the man whom he shared adherence to his Sufi Tariqa, Al Ismaelia, and the man with whom he performed Madeeh (songs of praise to the prophet) Khalifa Al Tayeb, a well known and a highly respected figure in his own right. Khalifa Al Tayeb is the father of Bashir Al Tayeb, the military officer and the life-long associate of Hamad Abdel Kareem. I am not able to trace Khalifa Al Tayeb tribal or detribalised lineage. As for Khalifa Abdel Kareem, the locals suggest that he is from Sagoli, a few miles to the West of Kadugli, towards Mirri area. It must have been him at a younger age or his parents who went north, and that is where he learned his trade, style and Sufi Tariqa.

Both Hamad and Bashir, the sons of the two Khalifas went to local schools and the Military Academy, with them went Bakri Omar Al Khalifa, the son of Omar Al Khalifa, a well-known local merchant and the proprietor of Kadugli’s only Cinema House. Despite his salient Negroid complexity, Omar Al Khalifa is said to be from the North. His son Bakri’s mother is a local.

The three sons of the Khalifas grew up together in Kadugli’s Malakiya and went to local schools and into the main Sudan’s Army military academy, North of Omdurman. They also played football for the local football club, Al Mawrada, the team of Al Malakiya. The three of them were very skilled players. Al Mawrada football fans missed them a lot when their game had to be interrupted as they went to the military academy in the seventies.

To us who were at intermediate or primary schools when they went to the military, the trio were not renown for their academic excellence, but we certainly always looked up to their seriousness and footballing dexterity. Not surprisingly, they did very well in the military. By the time NIF officers took over in 1989, all of them were high rank officers in the army.

Bashir was in an influential position in an army Unit in Jabal Awleya, just to the South of Khartoum, when he was implicated and tragically executed along with other twenty-seven officers in the Ramadan military coup attempt in April 1990.

Bakri was the second in command with the forces in El Rank Upper Nile just before the coup in 1989. He was beginning to gather some notoriety as a harsh military commander, palpable to affected locals, but much appreciated by his fellow officers. I do not know yet what role did he play during the NIF-lead campaign in the nineties in what is now an oil producing area of Bahar Al Gazal and South Kordofan regions, or the role he played in his own region, in the Nuba Mountains, but I was certainly surprised to see that he was the commander of the Transport and Logistics for the whole army when perished in the aeroplane accident that killed the infamous Shamseldeen and a number of other high rank officers.

Hamad, who looked slightly older than Bashir and Bakri, did well in the army. He indeed reached the rank of Brigadier. He was one of the officers who were taken to the Islamic Centre in Soba prior to the NIF coup. He was decommissioned in the early years of the NIF rule along with tens of other officers. Those were the days when NIF military were constantly seeking to consolidate their position within the army. Whether that was a purposeful manoeuvre on the part or the NIF or otherwise, only time will tell. Hamad was soon reinstated in a civilian position in Kadugli and at one time was given the finance portfolio to the Province. He maintained an active quasi-military role, acting sometimes as a peace envoy delegated by the regime to bring other warring Nubas to peace and at other times featuring in Sahat Al Fidaa, the infamous propagandist television programme. Hamad died when the vehicle transporting him to the West of Kadugli towards mirri area succumbed to a landmine.
That brought to conclusion the lives of three of Kadugli’s sons who grew up together and made the same choice for a career only to face a premature death either in the service of Khartoum’s Islamic regime or in opposition to it.

أزمة التطور السوداني: نظرة مختلفة

أزمة التطور السوداني : نظره مختلفه

تلخيص وتقديم جعفرأبكر علي gaaferali@gmail.com

الديموقراطية تفشل في السودان بسبب الغياب التاريخي للاساس التنويري والاستناري الذي تستند إليه.

اليسار السوداني هيّمن علي الفضاء الثقافي فيما بعد الاستقلال فحرم الديمقراطية من التطور.

الجماعات السياسية والعسكرية والتيارات التي تفكر دوما في الحلول الانقلابية وتجاوز وحرق المراحل ما كان لها ان تنمو وتحول تفكيرها وميولها وتوجهها السياسي نحو الانقلاب لو ان المجتمع نفسه فيه القدر الكافي من المصدات والردع بما يمنع التفكير الانقلابي.

تبخر الرصيد الاستناري في المجتمع وتفتتت القطاعات الحديثه وساد وسطها نوع من التدين الخام وإكتسب التدهور ميكانيكية ذاتية للتوسع.

هناك مخرج من الازمة يعتمد علي اسلوب جديد لعمل المعارضة. يتطلّب منها العمل داخل المجتمع بجانب الاساليب التقليدية للمعارضة.

ملخص للندوة التي قدمها الاستاذ عبد العزيز حسين الصاوي بمانشستر نوفمير 2009

ما أطرحه اليوم هو عبارة عن أفكار قيد الصنع وتأملات ومحاولة للفهم ، ولذلك أرحب بالتغذية الراجعة وسيكون ذلك ضروريا لمراجعة الطرح وتطويره. الجزء الاول من الموضوع ينظر في توصيف الازمة. عموما أعتقد ان هناك اتفاق في توصيف الوضع الذي نعيشه علي انه أزمة. أزمة حقيقية في تطور المجتمات والدولة السودانية وان الازمة آخذة في التفحل وأنها أصبحت تتشعب وتتمظهر في اشكال عديدة ومن أخطر تلك الاشكال نذكر تصاعد العنف في العلاقات الاجتماعية والجريمة في داخل المدن واتخاذها لاشكال بالغة في العنف بما في ذلك جرائم السطو العنيفة والتي عادة ما تكون مصحوبة بالقتل والتي غالبا ما يلاقي فيها الضحايا ابشع انواع القتل والعنف الجسماني وكذلك أحداث القتل داخل الجامعات ، في السابق كان طابعها سياسي في الاساس ، الآن يمكن ان تري القتل ناجما عن اختلافات في العلاقات الاجتماعية بين الطلاب . واذا اضفت الي ذلك العنف الديني علي شاكلة الاحداث الأخيرة في الجريف فان ذلك يدعونا لأن نشكك بقوة في المنحي النظري القائل بان المدينة هي المرشحة الاولي للمساهمة بشكل اساسي في قيادة عملية الخروج من الأزمة فتصبح المدينة هي الاخري مرشحة للانفجار.

قبل هذا وذاك نجد أزمة الحكم السياسي المتمثلة فيما يشار إليه عادة بتداول الحكم بين الانظمة المدنية والعسكرية. وهذا في حد ذاته ليس بالتوصيف الدقيق للازمة ، فسنوات إستقلال الدولة السودانية التي تعّدت الخمسين عاما هيَمن الحكم العسكري الشمولي علي أكثر من أربعين عاما منها وساد فيها الحكم المدني الديمقراطي لفترات قصيرة جدًا ، ولذلك ليس من الدقة في شيء القول بان هناك تداولا في الحكم بين النظم العسكرية والمدنية. فالوصف الأكثر دقة هو ان البلاد منذ استقلالها قد حُكمت حُكما عسكريا ذا طبيعة شمولية. وهذا مؤشر علي ان هناك اسباباً أعمق أدت الي ذلك وسنتطرق لها فيما يلي:

الازمة الاقتصادية فأبلغ ما يشير الي ما آلت اليه هو حقيقة إنخفاض متوسط عمر الانسان في السودان الي 45 عاما مقارنة ب75 عاما كما هو الحال هنا فى بريطانيا. وهناك بالطبع الاحصاءات التي تبَين مستويات الفقر هذا الي جانب الفضيحة المتمثلة في إضطرار النظام الحالي الي اللجوء مجددا الي صندوق النقد الدولي مما يبَين بوضوح خط اللاتنمية الذي وصلت نظام الجبهة القائم فهاهو يلجأ الي صندوق النقد الدولي رغم كثافة جهوده الاعلامية في الحديث انه حقق معدلات للنمو تتجاوز 7 في المائة.

وفي الجانب الثقافي نجد تدهور المستويات الثقافية وإنتشار فكر الخرافة حتي في أوساط المتعملين ، للحد الذي ادي الى انتهاج بعض الفئات المهنية المتقدمة الي اساليب الشعوذه والدجل والمحايا في تعاطيها مع مهنها ذات الطابع العلمي. فيقال ان هناك طبيبة لاقت حتفها كنتيجة لتعاملها مع المتشعوذين بحثا عن العلاج.

عدم قدرة نظم الحكم الديمقراطي علي الاستمرار والإستدامة يعتبر من أهم أشكال تمظهر الأزمة. هنالك بالطبع تفسيرات أخري عديدة تختلف بإختلاق المرتكزات الفكرية والسياسية. ومنها التفسير المعتمد علي النظر في الأساس الإجتماعي والطبقي وضعف تطوره التاريخي. هناك تفسيرات تقدمها عادة الاحزاب التقليدية والتي تعزو عدم استمرار الدمقراطية الي تدخل الجيش. ولكن أهم تلك التفسيرات وأكثرها رواجا في الوقت الراهن هو تفسير ما يمكن تسميته بمدرسة الهامش وهذا التفسير تتبناه الحركات الاقليمية والمسلحة وتري هذه المدرسة الازمة من وقائع انها أزمة صراع بين المركز والاطراف وأن طبيعة عملية التهميش والخلل التنموي فيما بين المركز والاطراف هو العامل الاساسي لانتفاء الاساس الذي يمكن ان تقوم عليه النظم الديمقراطية..

هذه لمحة سريعة عن ما يمكن تسميته الازمة السودانية. التفسيرات هذه تقدم تشخيصات ما لطبيعة الازمة ويمكن الأخذ بصحتها بتكاملها جمعيا لتقدم تفسيرا ما لظاهرة عدم استمرار الديمقراطية وللازمة العامة. ولكن استمرار الازمة واستدامتها وتفاقمها علي هذا النحو يعني ان هناك اسباب اخري وعوامل فاعلة وأكثر عمقا.

ما أود التقدم به في هذا المجال اليوم هو أن مشكلة الديمقراطية في السودان وكثير من دول العالم الثالث منبعها انها لم تتاح لها ظروف ان تنمو وتتطور علي النحو الذي نمت به في أروبا. فالديمقراطية في أوربا كانت نتاج ما يسمي بعصر التنوير والنهضة (Renaissance) أو (Enlightenment) في الفترة ما بين القرن السادس عشر الي القرن الثامن/التاسع عشر. وشهدت هذه الفترة ثلاث ظواهر متشابكة وهي الإصلاح الديني والثورة الصناعية ونشوء الطبقة البرجوازية. فالاصلاح الديني حدث في الكنيسة الكاثولوكية بدءاً بترجمة الإنجيل الي اللغة الالمانية وظهور مارتن لوثر كينج وحركة الاحتجاج البروتستانية (Protestantism) ويتشابك هذا مع نشوء الطبقة البرجوازية وفك الارتباط الوثيق الذي كان قائما بين الطبقات الاقطاعية والكنيسة الكاثوليكية والدولة فيما يسمي بنظام الحكم الالهي (Divine Rule) في الملكيات القديمة. وبصورة تدريجية أدي ذلك في نهاية الامر الي إتاحة الفرصة للديمقراطية. أما الظاهرة الثانية فهي الثورة الصناعية وكانت بريطانيا هي المجال الرئيس الذي حدثت فيه هذه التطورات وقيام الصناعة وظهور الطبقات البرجوازية والعمالية حيث قوية شوكت الطبقات البروجوزاية علي حساب الاقطاع ونظام الحكم الالهي مفسحا المجال لنموالديمقراطية كاحزاب وثقافة وإزدهارها كنظام للحكم واسلوب للحياة وسيادة الطبقة الوسطي. ورافقت هذه التطورات ومهد لها ظهور حركة التنوير وفلسفة أو فكر التنوير. وهنا نقف علي ثلاث مدارس فكرية لعبت دورا اساسيا في تهيئة الظروف لظهور عصر النهضة في أوربا والذي نبعت منه الديمراطية وتشّكل منها اساسها الفكري والثقافي . المدرسة الألمانية حيث نجد أسماء عمانويل كانت (Kant,Immanuel) وهيردر (Herder, Johann) وهناك مدرسة فرنسية فيها فولتير ومونتسكيو وجان جاك روسو وديكارت صاحب منهج الشك الفلسفي وفي انجلترا نري مدارس وفلسفات العدل الاجتماعي ولأن انجلترا شهدت نموا وتراكما في الثورة ظهرت هذه المدارس والفلسفات الاجتماعية لمدارس الفكر الاشتراكي المثالي وظور اسماء كروبرت اوين وخلافه من شخصيات حركة التونير المعروفة.

هذا هو الاطار الذي ظهرت عليه الديمقراطية كثقافة وكمؤسسات في أوربا وشكلت الاُسس التي بُنيت عليها الديمقراطية وارست قواعدها كنظام للحياة كثقافة وكأحزاب ومنظمات مجتمع مدني. هذا في أوربا ، أما في السودان وفي كثير من دول العالم الثالث فلم تنبع الديمقراطية كنتيجة للتطور من هذا الشكل ، وفي الواقع ان الديمقراطية جاءت مربوطة بالزحف والمشروع الكولينيالي علي أفريقيا ودول العالم العربي. فلذلك نزعم بان الاساس الموضوعي والتاريخي للديمقراطية كان ضعيفا. فالادارة الاستعمارية في السودان كانت بحاجة الي خلق اجهزة تسهل عليها مهمة النهب الكولينيالي ولذلك قامت بانشاء اجهزة للادارة ونظم للتعليم تسهل لها مهمتمها فكان انشاء النظام التعليمي وكلية غردون والاجهزة التي خلقها المستعمر كمشروع الجزيرة والجهاز الاداري للدولة والسكة حديد والجيش هي التي وفرت القدر الكافي من الاشعاع والاوساط المتعلمة تركزت حولها فكرة الديمقراطية كممارسة ووسيلة ممكنة لتنظيم العمل السياسي والممارسة السياسية والحياة.

بجانب الاشعاع التنويري الذي جاء مرتبطا بجهاز الدولة الاستعمارية كان هناك التأثير المرتبط بفكر التنوير والنهضة القادم من مصر. ففي مصر كان تأثير فكر النهضة والتنوير قويا ومبكرا نسبيا بفعل عوامل عديدة نذكر منها الحملة الفرنسية علي مصر أيام نابليون بونابرت والتي استمرت لثلاث سنوات ، وهناك إجماع علي ان الحملة الفرنسية عملت علي تحريك النظام السياسي المصري والمجتمع المصري بشكل كبير خاصة ان الاستعمار الفرنسي وقتها كان مبنيا علي أو واقعا تحت التأثير الفكرالتنويري والفكر النهضوي بشكل يختلف عن الاسس التي استعمروا عليها الجزائر فيما تلي ذلك. الفرنسيون قاموا بدراسة مصر ومن السهل ان نتذكر ان العلماء الفرنسيين المرافقين للحملة قاموا في تلك الفترة باكتشاف حجر رشيد وفك طلاسم اللغة الهيروغروفية مما فتح الحضارة المصرية برمتها للدراسة. ومن الامثلة ايضا نذكر انهم قاموا بانشاء النظام القانوني بمصر وأعمال اخري كالطباعة وغيرها من الاعمال التي ادت الي تحريك المجتمع المصري وادخال قدر كبير من الاستنارة والحراك الفكري مما هيأ لقدر اكبر من الانفتاح في مراحل لاحقة. تلي تلك الحقبة ظهور محمد علي باشا وكان هو بدوره شخصية غربية لابعد الحدود ، فبالرغم من انه كان شخصا متواضعا من حيث الخلفية التعليمية وأعتقد انه كان اميا وجنديا عاديا لا يجيد اللغة العربية الا انه كان مهتما بالتعليم حيث قام بارسال اعداد كبيرة من المصريين من ابناء العائلات الكبيرة الي ألمانيا وفرنسا للدراسة وقام كذلك باعمال أخري كنظام الري والقناطر الخيرية والتوسع في بناء الجيش. أدي ذلك في مجمله الي خلق تغييرات كبيرة في التركيبة الاقتصادية والاجتماعية للمجتمع المصري مكّنت من تعميق الانفتاح الفكري والتنوير وإفعال الحراك داخل المجتمع المصري مما هيأ لمرحلة ثالثه من مراحل التنوير وإرهاصات النهضة وهنا أود ان أقف عند شخصية محددة وهي رفاعة الطهطاوي وكان شيخا اُبتعث الي فرنسا ليس للدراسة وانما للإشراف علي مجموعة من الطلاب وإذا به يتمكن في فترة قصيرة من تعّلم اللغة الفرنسية ودراسة وفهم المجتمع الفرنسي وعند عودته الي مصر قام بانشاء مدرسة للالسنيات وهي مدرسة خاصة بالترجمة وأنشأ جريدة وكانت هي الاولي في مصر وادخل تعليم النساء واصبح شخصية محورية في تاريخ التنوير ونهضة الفكر في مصر، وعلي خلاف ما كانت عليه شخصيات أخري كالشيخ محمد عبده الذين كان لهم اهتماما أكبر بالاصلاح الديني كان الشيخ رفاعة الطهطاوي مهتما بالاصلاح الثقافي والسياسي. تربطه علاقة بالسودان حيث عمل مديرا لمدرسة ببربروالتي نفي اليها بسبب المضايقات التي سببها للعائلة المالكة في مصر في ذلك الحين ولديه قصيدة مشهورة يُعرب فيها عن ضيقه من مشاهداته وحياته في المنفي في السودان. واحيانا ينتابني إحساس ان هناك رابطاً ما بين رفاعة الطهطاوي ورفاعة السودان التي ابتدر فيها التعليم في السودان الشيخ بابكر بدري الذي اعتقد انه عاش في مصر في فترة ما. ولكن هذا مجرد احساس ليس لدي اي اسانيد عليه. وكنتيجة لهذه التفاعلات التي انتظمت المجتمع المصري بسبب الحملة الفرنسية وظهور محمد علي باشا تهيأت الظروف المواتية لانطلاق العامل الثالث أوالفترة الثالثة لما يمكن ان نسميه عصر التنوير ووقوف مصر علي فترة توطد فيها الفكر الانفتاحي والتنوير والإستنارة الفكرية وظهور اعلام الفكر المعروفين وعلي رأسهم شخصيات كطه حسين الذي طرح المسألة الدينية بشكل مختلف فيه إعمال أكبر للفكر العقلاني وتطبيق لمناهج البحث الاوربية كمنهج الشك الديكارتي وشخصيات اخري كأحمد لطفي السيد والمعروف بأبو اللبرالية بمصر وعلي عبد الرزاق وله كتابه المعروف عن الخلافة الاسلامية ، وبدرجة أقل محمد حسين هيكل وهذا الاخير رغم إرتباطه بدرجة أقل بتلك الفترة وشخصياتها المعروفة التي ذكرناها ، الا ان اهميته بالنسبة للسودانيين الدراسين لارهاصات النهضة بالسودان تكمن في ارتباطه بشخصية سودانية أعتقد انها لها دور محوري في بزوق بدايات فكر النهضة والتنوير بالسودان وهو الأديب معاوية محمد نور.

وكان لهذا الحراك الذي شهدته مصر في تلك الفترة تأثيرا مباشرا علي السودان حيث كانت مصر هي المصدر الذي يتلقي منه المتعلمون في السودان الكتابات الصحفية والتعليم وغيرها من وسائط المعرفة بجانب الاتصال المباشر والتنقل بين البلدين. فهذا التأثير المباشر القادم من مصر الي جانب المناخ الذي خلقه الحضور البريطاني في السودان أو ما يمكن ان نسميه الوجه الآخر للاستعمار، خلق هذا ما يمكن ان نسميه بدايات أو إرهاصات عصر التنوير في السودان. كانت هذه بدايات وكانت ضعيفة بطبيعة الحال. غمور واهمال شخص كمعاوية محمد نور هو في حد ذاته يعتبر دليلا علي ضمور وضعف تلك البدايات. فمعاوية محمد نور كان علي درجة كبيرة من الاستنارة علي رغم من انه من عائلة امدرمانية عادية ، فقد كان له فهما نقديا وإستيعابا متقدما لتيارات الفكر والثقافة الاوربية وقد كان متقدما في فهمه لهذه التيارات حتي بالمقارنة مع رصفائه المصرين وكان علي علاقة باعلام الفكر والثقافة بمصر ودارت بينه وبين طه حسين والعقاد حوارات كان له في كثير من الاحيان الاسهام الأكبر. كان موسوعيا وأعتقد ان القصة كانت الجانب الاقل في كتابته لانه كان في إعتقادي مفكرا أكثر من كونه اديب والمحاولات الادبية قصد منها إقحام مناهج متقدمة كمنهج الشك الديكارتي والعقلانية أكثر من كونها كتابات ادبية محضة. ولكننا لا نجد ان معاوية محمد نور له المكانة والشهرة مقارنة برصفائه السياسين من أمثال محمد أحمد محجوب ، وذلك انعكاس لضعف الاساس الفكري والتنوري في المجتمع السوداني. وأري ان ضعف الاساس التنويري في المجتمع السوداني هو السبب الرئيس في ضعف القاعدة التنويرية التي يمكن ان تنمو وتنبني عليها الديمقراطية في السودان. وهذا هو السبب وراء ظاهرة عدم استمرار الديمقراطية إذ انها لم تحظ بالحظ في التطور التاريخي والتجربة التي انبنت عليها في أوربا. ولا يعني ذلك ان من الشروط الضرورية لنجاح التجربة ان تمر بنفس المراحل والتجارب التي مرّت بها في أوربا ليضمن لها النجاح. أري انه من الممكن معالجة الخاصية هذه بالوسائل التي سأعرضها في يلي من حديث.

الجماعات السياسية والعسكرية والتيارات التي تفكر دوما في الحلول الانقلابية وتجاوز وحرق المراحل ما كان لها ان تنمو وتحول تفكيرها وميولها وتوجهها السياسي نحو الانقلاب لو ان المجتمع نفسه فيه القدر الكافي من المصدات والردع بما يمنع التفكير الانقلابي. فلو كانت النخب السودانية وهنا الحديث ليس عن عامة الناس فحسب ولكن النخب نفسها ، لو ان الديمقراطية كان لديها القدر الكافي من التركيز والحضور في اذهان هذه النخب لما انفتح المجال للتفكير الانقلابي في الاساس. ومن الملاحظات التي يمكن ان يسجلها أي ضابط في الجيش السوداني أن الناس العاديين وجيرانهم واقاربهم يبدأوا في حسهم علي الانقلاب علي نظام الحكم بمجرد وصول حكومة ديمقراطية مدنية منتخبة للحكم بأشهر قليلة. والتعبير الدارجي الشائع هو " ياأخي ما تقلبوها" وهذا انعكاس لسطحية الفهم للديمقراطية وعدم استيعابها وتمّثلها كثقافة وكنظام للحكم واسلوب للحياة في المجتمع السوداني.

الضعف الآخر ناجم عن الدور الذي لعبناه في اليساربشكل عام. ففي الفترة التي تلت نيل الاستقلال كان الجو العام علي المستوي المحلي والأقليمي والعالمي هو ضد الاستعمار ومع حركات التحرر وكان التيار اليساري هو الطاغي علي بقية التيارات. حتي أن الكثير من الرموز الحزبية من الاحزاب التقليدية كانوا قد مروا بفترات من حيواتهم قد وقعوا فيها تحت تأثير الفكر الاشتراكي. وكان طبيعيا في عصر التحلل من قيود الاستعمار وأغلاله ان يكون العداء علي اشده مصوبا ضد الاستعمار وفي اتجاه ان يبني المجتمع علي اسس العدالة الاجتماعية التي كانت تنشدها الاشتراكية. ففي اطار الجو العام وسيادة الفكر القائم علي حرق المراحل والتقسيم الحاد للمجتمع لرجعيين وتقدميين ، كان طبيعياً أن ينظر الي الديمقراطية كنظام مرتبط بالبرجوازية. والديمقراطية رغم تعريفاتها الكثيرة تعني في نهاية الامر الحرية والقدرة وتصحيح الذات. ويعني ذلك اتاحة المجال للتنظيمات والمؤسسات والجماعات لممارسة الديمقراطية بحرية وإكتساب خاصية تنظيم وتصحيح الذات. فمدرسة أبو روف كانت علي سبيل المثال مدرسة متقدمة في اطروحاتها وكانت منفتحة علي الفكر الاشتراكي ولكن من منطلقات ديمقراطية وكان يمكن ان تنمو وتساهم في تطور الديمقراطية ، ولكن تلخيصها في انها مرتبطة بالفئات الحضرية البرجوازية خاصة من قبل اليسار الذي هيمن علي الفضاء الثقافي حينها ربما ساهم في اندثارها في نهاية الامر. الحزب الاتحادي الديمقراطي كان يمكن ان يتطور ليكون مرتكزا أو حزبا للبرالية السودانية ، ولكن ذلك لم يحدث بسبب فعلنا كيساريين ، فقد هيمنا علي الجو الثقافي ونبذنا الديمقراطية باعتبارها ممارسة برجوازية. فالتطلع حينها كان لبناء المجتمع علي اساس اشتراكي تعلو فيه قيمة العدالة الاجتماعية فينظر بطبيعة الحال الي الديمقراطية البرجوازية علي انها تشكل خطرا علي التطلعات الاشتراكية. فلم يكن الحزب الشيوعي او الشيوعيين هم وحدهم المتبنيون للتوجهات هذه بل كانت هناك تيارات اخري تكاد تنتظم كل الاحزاب حتي الاسلاميين تشتد في داخلهم مثل هذه الافكار. فهذا التيار العريض لعب دورا اساسيا في اضعاف الاساس الديمقراطي علي ضعفه الموروث. فحدث الانقلابان. الاول يكاد يكون تسليما وتسّلماً ولربما كان ذلك تعبيرا عن القدر المتوفر من الوعي الديمقراطي وقتها. أما الانقلاب الثاني فقد كان بفعل اليسار والتأثر بالتجربة الناصرية. فنظام مايو قام بعد توليه السلطة بادخال بعد جديد لازمة الوعي الديمقراطي مما فتح الطريق أمام الازمة الحقيقية فيما يلي.

نظام مايو كان النظام الديكتاتوري الحقيقي. وكان له تأثيراً بالغاً علي النخبة السياسية السودانية. وخلق بلبلة أعمق في أوساط المثقفين السودانيين الذين وقفوا بين مؤيد وغير معترض في احسن الظروف وذلك لأن النظام طرح مبادئ وشعارات كان ينشدها كثير من المثقفين علي مختلف اتجاهاتهم. إختلف نظام انقلاب مايو عن الاول في ان كان له برنامج سياسي وكان معني بادخال تغييرات راديكالية علي المجتمع علي عكس الانقلاب الاول الذي وُوجه برفض يكاد يكون عاماً من قبل النخبة والذي لم يكن له برنامج للتغيير علي اي حال. كان لنظام مايو أثراً كبيراً. ففي المجال الاقتصادي بدأت الازمة مبكرا الي ان تفاقمت الي الحد الذي وصلت اليه في اواخر السبعينات.

التجربة المايوية ابتداءا من اوائل السبعينات أدخلت عنصرا جديدا ساهم بشكل اساسي في أنهاء مسيرة تطور الوعي الديمقراطي ونسف كافة بدايات النهضة والتنوير في السودان وذلك بالتدخل لأول مرة في نظام التعليم بالبلاد. علماً بان التعليم يمثل في واقع الأمر المكسب الحقيقي ويجّسد كل ما وصل اليه السودان من الاستعمار وما بعد الاستقلال وكان التعليم هو بمثابة المصدر الاساسي للتنوير والاشعاع الفكري في المجتمع ومصدر الفكر الحر المنفتح والديمقراطية والعقلانية وغيرها من المجالات التي يمكن ان تأتي بالجديد المفيد للبلد. و تكمن ايضاً خطورة التعليم في انه يمثل الاداة التي من خلالها يصبح التفاعل بين الفضاءات الفكرية والسياسية ممكنا فعندما تصبح الفضاءات العامة فقيرة وغير قادرة علي التفاعل مع مراكز الفكر والاستنارة الخارجية فسينعكس ذلك حتما علي الفضاء التعليمي. تدخل النظام المايوي في المناهج ونظام التعليم واصبحت المدارس مجالاً للمهرجانات وأناشيد مايو وكان ذلك بداية المحاولات لاخضاع النظام التعليمي للسلطة وشكل ذلك بدايات للتخريب الممنهج والذي اوصله النظام الشمولي الذي أعقب ذلك الي نهاياته المأساوية.

تأثير الحركة الاسلامية السودانية كاد أن يكون محصورا في المجال الطلابي حتي السبعينات ، بينما كان لليسار إمتداداً أوسع في القطاعات الحديثة والمكونات المهنية وفي الفضاءات الثقافية والفنية. جاءت بداية التدخل في النظام التعليمي والتلاعب بالمناهج التعليمية والتدهور فى المستويات التعليمية نفسها مصحوبة بعوامل اخري شديدة الأثر منها الازمة الاقتصادية ، ونعلم انه كلما اشتدت وطأة وضنك الحياة المعيشية كلما إزدادت الميول الي التدين والاهتمام بالناحية الدينة كما هو متوقع في مجتمع تقليدي بطبيعة حاله. هناك عامل آخر وهو التأثر بما انتظم المحيط الاقليمي في تلك الفترة إشتداد في التيارات الاسلامية وإستفحال دورها. نضيف الي ذلك خروج عدد كبير من الاسلاميين السودانين الي السعودية والخليج العربي مما ساهم في دعم علاقاتهم الخارجية ورصيدهم الاقتصادي حيث تراكمت لديهم الثروة. هذه العوامل مجتمعة مضاف اليها ما تحدثنا عنه آنفا حول ضعف رصيد الوعي الديمقراطي لغياب الخلفية التاريخية ومحدودية تأثير حركة النهضة القادمة من مصر، أدت كل هذه العوامل مجتمعة الي تبّخر الرصيد الإستناري وفقدان الحضور الذهني والوعي الديمقراطي في مناطق تواجدها وسط القطاعات الحديثة داخل المجتمع وفي وسط النخب المتعلمة نفسها واكتساب هذا التدهور لمياكنيكية ذاتية. مما أدي في نهاية الامر الي ان تنتظم هذه القطاعات والتي كان يشار اليها كقطاعات حديثة حالة من التديّن الخام القائم علي عدم إعمال الذهن والاستناد كليا علي التفسير الحرفي للدين. وبحلول الثمانينات كانت الحركة الاسلامية هي الحزب الرئيسي وما حدث في دائرة الصحافة حينما اجتمعت كافة تنظيمات القوي السياسية لإسقاط الترابي وحتي المرشح الذي اتفق عليه ابدي في نهاية الامر مساندته للبرنامج الاسلامي.

هذه هي الازمة فما المخرج؟ لست من اليائيسين ومن رأيي ان هناك معالجات. وما سأطرحه بهذا الخصوص ربما يكون مثيراً للجدل وقد لا يجد قبول خاصة ان أطروحاتي تتم وسط وتنطلق من واقع معارضة لنظام الجبهة والمؤتمر في السودان. أري أن هناك ثلاثة مخارج للأزمة وهي اصلاح النظام التعليمي والمخرج الثاني هو إعتماد وتفعيل منظمات المدني كوسيلة لأحياء الممارسة الديمقراطية والمخرج الثالث هــو التعامل مع القطاعات المستنيرة من الاسلاميين.

النظام التعليمي كما أشرنا فيما سبق تدهور بشكل مريع الي الحد الذي اصبح معه لا يلبي الاحتياجات الاعتيادية اليومية. وهناك ما يشير الي تململ حتي وسط الاسلاميين انفسهم مما آلت اليه المستويات التعليمية من فشل في تلبية إحتياجات سوق العمل والتوظيف. حتي وزير التربية الحالى كان في بداية الامر يتحدث عن النواحي الفنية في المجال ولكن في الفترة الاخيرة أبدي ضيقه مما آل اليه الوضع التعليمي وحتي كثير من الاسلاميين بدأ ينتابهم الشعور ان التعليم بحاله هذا لا يساعد أبناءهم في إقتحام سوق العمل وأيجاد الوظائف لهم. فمن رأيي أن هناك مجال للمعارضة للعمل في هذه الناحية ومحاولة دراسة الموضوع وطرحه عن طريق الوسائل المتاحة والتي قد تكون محدودة ولكن مطلوبة ويمكن تكثيف النشاط بشأنها. أعتقد ان الغرب ومنذ ادارة كلينتون أصبح لديه اهتمام اكبر بهذه النواحي ويمكن استقصاء هذه الامكانية رغم حساسية الامر. العلاقة مع الغرب اصبحت مجالا لإثارة العواطف والتجييش السياسي الديماجوجي في السودان تأثرا بالمنطقة العربية للربط الذي يحدث عادة بين الغرب والقضية الفلسطينية والنظام في السودان في محاولته لعزل نفسه واغلاقها من التأثيرات القادمة من الغرب لعب علي هذه الناحية واصبح الحديث السائد محصورا فيما يسموه بالاستكبار، ولكن من الممكن ادارة العلاقة مع الغرب بنضوج وذكاء ومن منطلق المصلحة الوطنية. هناك نماذج في أفريقيا في ليبيريا وسراليون وساحل العاج وجلها من الدول التي عانت من ويلات التفكك والحرب الاهلية ولكنها في الفترة الاخيرة استطاعت ان تدير علاقاتها بالغرب بذكاء وبالقدر الذي أتاح لها الاستفادة من تللك العلاقة وتوجيهها نحو حلحلة قضاياها المتعلقة بالحكم والامن والاقتصاد والحريات. وهناك الكثير من دول المنطقة العربية ممن تمكنوا من الاستفادة بشكل كبير من العلاقات مع الغرب ووجهوها لاغراضهم الوطنية. وهكذا يمكن استقصاء إمكانية الاستفادة من الغرب في المحاولة لاصلاح النظام التعليمي بالسودان. فهناك بصفة عامة مجالات وارضيات مشتركة في داخل السودان وخارجه للعمل نحو اصلاح النظام التعليمي بالبلاد.

المخرج الثاني هو منظمات المجتمع المدني هيئاته وجمعياته التي تدير مجالات مختلفة علي اسس في غالبها ديمقرطية حيث تتوفر فيها اسس المحاسبة الدورية وعادة تتوفر فيها مكاشفة وشفافيه أكبر من تلك التي توفرها الاحزاب ، وهي بذلك تكون مدارس أفضل لتعّلم الممارسة الديمقراطية مقارنة بالأحزاب نفسها. هذه المنظمات لديها ميزانيات وتكون خاضعة للمحاسبة الدورية من قبل أعضائها وفي الغالب هناك تداول في إدارتها بين أعضائها. فهناك إمكانية لان تستفيد المعارضة من هذه الخاصية بان تبعدها من التأثير السياسي وتدعم الممارسة الديمقراطية داخلها وان تكون المعايير الذاتية والخصائص المحددة هي الاساس للمارسة داخلها بدلاً من الاعتبارات السياسية. وبطبيعة الحال نسبة لتعدد منابر منظمات المجتع المدني فسيكون هناك حتما تلامساً بينها والنظام السياسي القائم ولكن يجب ان لا يكون ذلك مأخذا عليها وأعني بذلك ان المنظمة أو الجمعية التي تعمل في مجال التعليم علي سبيل المثال ستجد نفسها في بعض الاحيان عاملة الي جانب الادارة الحكومية في المجال التعليمي ، وهذه ليست بالضرورة خاصية سلبية ، بل يمكن الالتفاف نحوها وتسخيرها لمصلحة المشروع. وأنا مقدر جدا لان العمل في المعارضة علي هذه الاسس يعتبر شيئاً غريباً وجديدا لان الوسائل التقليدية لعملنا كمعارضة قائم علي المواجهة واما النصر أو لاشيء. فهذه مجالات للمعارضة السياسية علي اسس مختلفة وتبقي المعارضة ومحاولة اسقاط النظام بالوسائل التقليدية مجالاً مفتوحاً.

المخرج الثالث وهو لا شك الاكثر إثارة للجدل وهو التعامل مع قطاعات معينة من الاسلاميين. الاساس الذي يقوم عليه هذا الاقتراح هو اقرارنا بان التدهور الذي اصاب التعليم كان تدهورا كارثيا واصبحت المدارس والكم الهائل من الجامعات التي تم تأسيسها تخرج اجيال هي أبعد ما تكون عن مصادر الفكر الحر والاستنارة والعقلانية. الفئة الوحيدة التي اتيحت لها فرص التعليم بالمستوي الذي يتيح لها الوقوف علي الأفكار الحديثة المتعلقة بالحداثة والعقلانية والفكر المنفتح هي فئات أبناء الاسلاميين أنفسهم ، فابنائهم تلقوا التعليم في المدارس الخاصة وفي أروبا وأمريكا وتعلموا اللغات الاجنبية ولديهم امكانية الوصول الي مصادر الفكر والمعرفة والانترنت وهذه مفارقة لكون ابناء الاسلاميين هم اكثر الفئات تعرضا للتأثير التنويري والديمقراطية لانهم تلقّوا افضل انواع التعليم في الداخل والخارج ، مقارنة بمتلقي التعليم العام بالسودان الذين يجدون انفسهم خريجين لمدارس وجامعات دون ان يتمكنوا من اكتساب اي مهارات وقدرات في اللغات أو البحث أو امكانيات للوصول الي مصادر العلم والفكر الاستناري. وهو تعليم صالح لإخراج الدبابين والطلبان ومن هم علي استعداد نفسي لتفجير انفسهم لإيذاء الآخر المخالف في الرأي أكثر من كونه تعليما قادرا علي إخراج من هم علي قدر من التفتح والنظر النقدي والتفهم والمهنية وإعمال الذهن. فهناك قطاعات كبيرة وسط الاسلاميين علي قدر كبير من الانفتاح ولديهم استعداد للخوض في هذه المجالات. فأبناء الاسلاميين وكثير من الاسلاميين المنفتحين يتطلعون الي نماذج اسلامية أكثر إنفتاحاً كنموذج تركيا والنموذج الاسلامي في ماليزيا بدلاً من النماذج الإنغلاقية. وأعتقد ان النموذج السوداني يسبب كثير من الحرج لهذه الفئات وسط اهلهم وفي الخارج وهم يتطلعون الي النماذج المستنيرة ولكن المعارضة بشكلها التقليدي تقف حجر عثرة في انخراطهم ليس بالضرورة في العمل المباشر في المعارضة ضد النظام ولكن بالتأكيد بشكل يتيح الاستفادة من هذه الامكانية. وهناك مؤشرات الي وجود توجهات في المنطقة العربية لخلق نوع متقدم من التعليم كما هو الحال في قطر وحتي السعودية بانشاء الجامعة الجديدة التي يمكن ان تكون بمثابة ام اي تي المنطقة العربية.

هذه افكار ادري انها مثيرة للجدل ومن شأنها ان تجر للفرد الى بعض الاتهامات خاصة واننا نعمل في مجال المعارضة للنظام القائم بالسودان ، ولكن من رأيي انها تعمل علي معالجة الازمة من منابعها وتعمل علي تفكيك الاساس الموضوعي الذي يقوم عليه الاسلام السياسي كظاهرة فكرية وسياسية تتحول في نهاية الأمر الي احزاب وانظمة.

الاستاذ عبد العزيز الصاوي مفكر وناشط سياسي سوداني مقيم بلندن. وهو من مؤسسي حزب البعث العربي بالسوداني. تبدلت نظرته الان لقضايا البعث وتطور المجتمع السوداني. وهو يري نفسه الآن أكثر انفتاحا علي قضايا الشعوب السودانية وقضية الهوية السودانية. الأستاذ عبد العزيز يدين حزب البعث العراقي والذي كان يرتبط به حزبه في السودان ويري تناقضا فظاً في ان يدعو حزب البعث بالسودان الي الديموقراطية ويقدم الضحايا من أجلها ثم يصرف النظر عن الفظائع التي ساق اليها حزب العراقي الشعب العراقي بسبب الحروب والدمار والغياب التام لابسط حقوق الإنسان في العراق تحت النظام البعثي.

تخرج الاستاذ عبد العزيز الصاوي من جامعة الخرطوم 1964 ( أقتصاد ) وعمل في وزارتي الماليه والخارجيه وله عدد من المؤلفات نذكر منها:

- الثورة المهديه : مشروع رؤيه جديده ( بالاشتراك مع محمد علي جادين )

- ازمة المصير السوداني: مناقشات في التاريخ والمجتمع والسياسه ( مركز الدراسات السودانيه )

- حوارات الهويه والوحده الوطنيه ( مركز الدراسات السودانيه )

- مراجعات نقديه للحركة القومية ( دارالطليعه، بيروت )

في الفكر السياسي السوداني: ديموقراطيه بلا إستناره؟ ( مركز عبد الكريم ميرغني، تحت الطبع

قدم الاستاذ عبد العزير الصاوي هذه الندوة بعنوان: ازمة التطور السوداني : نظره مختلفه - في مدينة مانشستر البريطانية في 28 نوفمبر 2009 ضمن انشطة جمعية الثقافة السودانية بمانشستر

تلخيض وتقديم جعفر أبكر علي gaaferali@gmail.com

Islam and the West

There is a tendency among many of the Muslim world writers and commentators to characterize the West as that immense diabolical power, who just sits there waiting to grab any passing opportunity to manipulate Muslims, individuals, institutions and groups for the ultimate purpose of using them for its own end of destroying Islam and Muslims.

It will neither help the Muslim World to understand the west, complicated as it is, nor will it help the Muslim world to understand itself, if we were to resign to that appreciation (Conspiracy theory - big time, as would be described by a friend)
Islam doesn’t need any bad publicity from anyone, be it Salman Rushdie, a Somali female refugee writer, a Danish cartoonist or else. Muslims themselves are doing it. Look at the reaction when someone in the name of Islam shows up and under the glare of video cameras and commit the abominable act of decapitating another human been. Grotesque and defying to believing it has been, hasn’t it. Look at the reaction in the Muslim world and compare to that of the Danish cartoons, when millions took to the streets prepared to die. I am afraid; such inferences would sit deeply at the bottom of the perception of the masses in the West. Such incidences of real life shape the perception as to what Islam is like in reality. No rhetoric on how tolerant Islam is would wash that a way.

EMOTIONAL INTEGRATION

I went back to Sudan recently for a visit after fifteen years away from the country where I was born bred and got my education. Since leaving the country I resided, studied and worked in the UK. fifteen years have lapsed since I saw Sudan last. The experience of going back to the country and meeting the people who I knew and grew up with was mind blowing to say the least. Since my arrival in the UK fifteen years before I have not only being integrated into the British way of life, but started to increasingly see the world through British spectacles. The process of integration would by nature whip you into that line of thinking and behaviour. Academics, professional training, readings, being part of the political fray, having to have your personal views and having to possess the logic and the argument to defend those views and implement them rationally. All that by design or otherwise is part and parcel of the integration process, which would ultimately lead ones to alter the conduct and perceptions the person arrives with into the newly adopted society. That what I think has happened to me during all these long years. I have noticed a great deal of those changes and I have always found what I thought is the rational explanation to them. My experience shows that when ones arrives into a new community, life becomes one of continuous adaptation and comparison between the new life and the one left behind. However, there is one element I did not count for and pay enough attention to. That is the emotional me.

Among many things I have over the years, sometimes unnoticeably, trained myself or probably coerced it to do, is to adopt new behavioural responses to emotional situations. These are the ways which are expected of me in the work place, on the street and in my social interactions. I am not expected to react to the news of the death a colleague, for instance, in the same way I would do as a Sudanese living among my people in Sudan., I wouldn’t also expect my workplace mates to show their emotions to me the way my Sudanese mates would do in Sudan. Again, if I were to be dismissed from work, I would react differently and expect others to react or sympathise with me in a different way also. It is not only on those dramatic situations differences exist, they exist in every moment of our daily life. After all, life itself is indeed a continuum of those little emotional stands. The difference between the two societies in those aspects is enormous. All that struck me true and the harsh realisation of it couldn’t me more overwhelming upon my recent return to my old society after those fifteen years of absence.

I was engulfed in a sea of emotions upon my return. Every moment of my return became an emotional experience of one kind or another. As I was getting on with life while I was there, I have been observing the differences in all that and have also been observing my responses to those moments and draw comparisons between the way I would react to them if I were back in UK and the way I would have behave if I haven’t been away for all those years. To me, over there all forms of emotional expressions are in much more intensive use over there. I have had men crying as much as women do. Neighbours did cry upon meeting me as much as close relatives. The same goes to old friends, old classmates and the list goes on. People over there cry more, laugh more and have no problem showing frustration and anger publicly. Emotional expression is not only used more often, there is a communal dimension to it too. People take part in communal crying and laughter as much as they do on a less public situation. The emotional support provided to individuals under stressful situation and difficulties is great. That led me to contemplate on the emotional and psychological implications for individuals who grow up under such a social and emotional environment if they were to be detached from it. I am just wondering if the implications of such an attachment have really been fully explored.

A Letter to a Friend

Hussein El Ahmar Koko
This is an open letter which I wrote to my old friend Hussein El Ahamar Koko who I went with to the intermmediate school in Kadugli. He wrote to me suggesting that I might have forgot him because of the long years and the fact that I now live in Europe and leading what he suggested "a successful life" there. This reply contains some of memories which might be usefull for others to sea, particularly those from the younger generation. They may represent a reflection to what life was like for a teenage school boy growing up in seventies in the Nuba Mountains.
Yes my friend. It has been over three decades ago since we last met, sat together and had a chat. That time is not only long enough for a lot of water to pass under the bridge, but, perhaps sufficient for the bridge itself to age and collapse. However, it would take more than that for me to forget your friendship and the five years during which we were class mates. We ate, drank, struggled, suffered and went through the learning and growing up stages together. When I went to Katcha (a village to the South of Kadugli, where all primary schools used to gather to sit for the final exams for admittance to intermediate schooling) to sit for my Intermediate school entrance exams, I was scarred and wasn’t able to eat for many days before. The fear for us was then not only to fail exams but, for the prospects of loosing our grades to a Jalaba boy. As it was then rumoured, in Katcha, grades could be swapped over by the powerful Jalaba traders of Kadugli in favour of their own sons. That was probably an indicative of the inherent vulnerability on the part of our communities rather than validity of existence of such practice in reality. After all, there were no many locals involved in the administration of the process. To allow the local community the feeling of being part of the process. The state of total disempowerment was not only confined to education but, was endemic in all aspects of public life in the mountains. Even at that level there was a limited presentation for locals on such administrative and civil service processes. That year, after making my way to Katcha along with other local boys, only a handful of us progressed. I, in despair, went to Talodi taking refuge with my grandfather. I did manage to pass but, that wasn’t enough to secure a rare and highly competitive place in the single Intermediate in Kadugli. In the whole of Southern Nuba Mountains, there was only the Amiriya Intermediate in kadugli which accepts a maximum number of forty pupils. There was an industrial apprentice training school in Sama (just outside Kadugli), but, that one had a national rather than local intake. Just imagine how many of us were lost in process and slipped through the net. I nearly faced the same fate.

When I came back from Talodi just before the start of the rainy season, to my surprise, a new intermediate school has just opened in Kadugli in the old Youth Club next to our old Western Primary School. To my even greater surprises, my name was listed and were been called every day as I was there in Talodi. It was Musalam Ballah, a boy from North Kordofan, who was stranger in town who came over to me questioning my wisdom in refusing schooling at the time when I was accepted in the new school. My answer was that I didn’t know about the new school and certainly knew nothing about me been accepted in it. I went with him the next day to check out the reality of his claims only to come back with my hand full of books after been allowed in straight away. That would certainly be the day we met for the first time Hussein.

That Intermediate school was not a typical one. It did not belong to the Ministry of Education. It did belong to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The ruling political parties had decided then to combat nakedness in that part of Sudan. They perceived the tradition as backward and primitive. The Nuba people were then still retaining the tradition of going naked. People were then still descend from the mountains naked and free. They didn’t care and no body else did in the locality. The political parties of the North saw it as an embarrassment and a dent on the national pride. They wanted the Nuba to be poor but, clothed. The method through which they could be helped to get clothed and be “typical” “respected” citizens, was the spread of the word of Islam among them. So, instead of opening more schools to cover the shortage, they opened this one which they named "Institute". The purpose was to get us through a religious education and get us to graduate as Islamic preachers to help the Nuba into becoming Muslims and hence get dressed. In that first year we were allowed to dress in Jalabias rather than the usual shorts of the other intermediate pupils. The certificates issued to us that year, and I still keep them, were from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

However, Sudan politics, been as we all know and expect it to be, had soon dramatically changed and made a shift in direction. Political parties, with their preceived ideas on the Nuba and Islam were soon thrown out. Young military officers with socialist and communist tendencies had taken over. Political parties had gone and along with them went the Institute. We were soon allowed into main stream education. The name was changed to Intermediate, and we were allowed, to our delight, to get our shirts and shorts.

Later the phasing out of the educational system was changed. Primary school education was extended to six years instead of the four we had. The higher secondary was reduced to three and we at Intermediate stage were also reduced to three years. But, we had to make the transition. That was why we stayed for five years at that school.

Hussein, I remember very much your hunger and zeal for knowledge. I particularly, remember your love for English. You had always scored top marks in English. I remember vividly that I and you had once tried to issue wall-display English language magazine. We wrote some articles and started to put it together only to be frustrated by one of the teachers who thought it was premature action on our part.

I remember you had always kept your discipline, despite your eagerness to have a good laugh at Mohammed Abdalla Diriya’s jokes. You rarely ventured into Hay Al Ushar, the way the likes of Ali Abum or Iz Eldin Jadalla would do. You had always kept your humour to the cheekiness and intrigue of teen-agers.

Our class included Mamoon Aradaib, who I never met since leaving that school. Telefoon Koko I met once when he was with the Soil Conservation Department in Kadugli. Years later, I knew about his plight when he was imprisoned by his own SPLA forces during the years of the struggle. I did campaign on his behalf here from London to get him released without him knowing until this moment. I spoke to his commanders and human right organisations when I became aware that he was kept under bad conditions for too long. I knew that he took a tactical military decision to withdraw from a certain area, based on an assumption to lessen human suffering at that particular time. The decision was not favoured by his superiors and he got into trouble. I did know years later that the situation was rectified and he was out of that horrible situation and was reinstated into position. Mahjoob Salim was playing his beloved football in Obied. Later went to university in Egypt. To Egypt went Mohammed El Fatih Batta who is currently teaching in Arabia. I am still in touch with his family. Iz Aldin Jadalla I was in touch with him until the last day I left Sudan and he passed away soon after, leaving a child behind. Lovely man he was, and we learned a lot from him. He was years ahead of us in his knowledge of Khartoum and football. The way he dressed and spoke was all but that of a local boy, much more urbanised than the rest of us. No wonder he was much more successful when it came to girls and adventures we used to have with the girls from the school nearby. Last year when I visited Sudan after a sixteen-year absence from Sudan, I nearly met Abashar Adam Hamid in Obied. He carried on with his love for art and now has a studio in Obied. I spoke to him on the phone but, not quite made it up to him. Kamal Salam, neither him nor his Kawaleeb relative Yagoob Arees I met ever since, but, years ago I knew that he was living in Al Fetehab. Ishaq Mohammed Ibrahim, I met last year on my visit to Sudan. He is currently a construction engineer working for government in Kadugli. Awad Jabir who was a good footballer was a police man in Kadugli. Saeed Abuna, I met briefly some twenty five years ago. Yousif Kakidla, I met last year and knew that he had stroke recently but, on his way to recovery. Our goal keeper Ahmed Al Die was an officer in the army the last I heard of him. . Jibreel Kori might have gone into the military as far as I can remember. His village is not far from yours you would probably know of him. Mahmood Nasr is another one who I can’t remember meeting after that. I hardly remember Ibrahim Ramadan, a man of few words.

My friend, our school was basic and had a bare minimum of facilities. The teachers we had were all compulsorily transferred from the North. Some of them never managed to overcome the initial shock of having arrived into such an alien environment to them and they never stayed for long. Conditions were harsh and the area used to go through total isolation if they were to be caught there during the rainy season. My father used to travel to Obied in fourteen days and would only make it after having to secure sufficient provisions of Sharmoot Waika and Dageeg on which my mother used to work days and days to prepare. Later in the seventy when the long awaited asphalt into the Nuba Mountains partially finished, we made the same journey in less than five ours. The story of that road into the Nuba is the one that I intend to document one day and would encourage others to do so.

Going back, to the school, services available to us were rudimentary to say the least. Leave alone books, labs, teachers and food for the school dormitory, other basic means of life are non-existence. We rarely saw a newspaper. There was not a single student who has a radio to listen to the news. I remember that I used to borrow my father’s radio to bring it round every Friday for the boys to listen songs played to request from listeners. Television never heard of. The first time I had the privilege of watching TV had eventually occurred when I visited Khartoum years after in 1976 for the first time. Despite of that, we somehow kept ourselves informed with events in the world and debated them and wrote about them. At one time I even managed to argue against government policies of forcing the Nuba into wearing clothes. The idea was that government priority shouldn't have focussed on that by sending clothes as did through its local representatives. Instead they should have worked on real development by providing employment, agricultural development, better pricing for cotton, schooling and health facilities. If that had happened, the clothing or lack of it which they see as a problem would have been automatically resolved. However, to many of Nuba communities, clothing wasn't a problem. Nakedness was part of the culture that sees the beauty of the human body and many of other socio-cultural and spiritual practices revolving round it. So, even at what was indeed a short time of the lifetime of the school which was opened as part of the campaign against the Nuba nakedness problem, some of the student the school produced had started to argue for and not against local cultural practices. What a turn of events! Some of us actually carried on the rebellion to its ultimate form by joining the rebellion against the whole state at later stages of life.

I am sure you, I and most of those who had been to that school were the product of chances, as it were. We happened to have had the chance because all those circumstances had all combined and brewed up allowing us the opportunity. How come the school did open that particular year? I was the first among my family to get that far and I am sure the same goes to you and many others who went the same journey with us. When we were preparing to sit for exams into the higher school, we were asked to get our parents to sign to say that they agreed to our choices of either academic or other non-academic schooling. If the choice was for academic studies, then they were required to agree on the choice of either humanitarian or scientific studies. None of us had parents who would understand all that. So, we just made it up and did the signatures our selves, saving ourselves the embarrassment of having to say that our parents would never understand that.

Hussein my friend, I never consider this a success. I never ever consider those of us (our generation) who made it to higher education and subsequently high jobs or residence in the First World, to be reflective of something different they personally did which others didn’t do. It is all down to brewing up of factors, moments of history and circumstances, which were in many cases completely out of our control. To our people we all owe it.

Thank you Hussein
I hoping to see you soon


Gaafer Abbakar Ali, November, 2005

How Unpredictable is the Sudanese Politics?

In the three years that preceded the death of John Garang, the paramount leader of the rebel Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM) and its military wing SPLA and in three different occasions, I have been to three political symposiums held by the SPLM in London. On each of those occasions Dr. John Garang the head of the organisation at the time was the main speaker. I was quite taken by the prestigious settings of the venues in which these activities were held and the rigour of the manual and electronic security checks attendants had to go through to get into the venues. Inside hundreds of people from all nationalities and walks of life were present. Cameras of all sizes and shapes, recordings and photography were in abundance. Demonstrative audio-visuals where in place to allow the speaker to skilfully set out elaborating his ideas, using in some cases mathematical equations and complicated conceptual phrases, interrupted only by the odd chanting, singing and poem saying by enthusiastic followers among the audience. In one of these occasions, worried about my car parked outside on the street nearby, I wanted to sneak out to check it, only to be asked to stay a foot because the security of all cars in the vicinity of the building was actually under the control of the security staff on place. I found that assuring to my satisfaction and quietly went back to my seat laying aside my worries about London’s parking tickets and its notorious wheel-clamping operators. That, of course had not only saved me the interruption to the engagement with the debate but it also saved me the hassle of having to go through the same security checks, the bag, the personal and the electronic detector all over again if I were to re-enter the hall.

That winter, just before Christmas, I went to two public symposiums. One by the Sudanese Communist Party held in a neighbourhood church in Kilburn Borough of London and the other one held by the Sudan Umma Party on the next day. The speaker in the first one was Alshafee Khidir of the Communist party with comments made by both Engineer Hashim Mohammed Ahmed and Hatim Elsir of the Democratic Unionist Party. The other occasion was speech given by Sadiq Almahadi the head his party (Umma) and sect (Ansar) and the former elected Prime Minister of Sudan. Sadiq’s lecture was confined to the rather simple surroundings of the Sudanese Saturday School in London with the majority of attendants having either to stand up or sit across their seats as the seats were actually nailed to the floor on the wrong direction facing each other with a metal table in-between in the school’s dinning hall. The banner behind the speaker facing the audience was hand-written in a creased rectangular yellowish clothe with its edges dangling freely of a cello-taped end in each side.


I among many others had to endure London’s winter and its time consuming exorbitant travel cost to have an audience with one of Sudan’s most powerful personalities seeking answers to, among others, two main questions. The first is what he was making of and doing about Darfur? The second is what he is doing about a country which he once ruled and is now admittedly falling apart in front of his very eyes.

Sadiq went about giving graphic description to how he since his return to Sudan was engaged in a process of restructuring his party the process which now rendered the party more democratic, gender and age sensitive. The culmination of that is now apparent in the fact that, according to him, the Imamship of his sect, the Ansar, is now constitutional and subject to electoral vote. On Darfur, he counted four new phenomena which include the politicisation and militarization of ethnicity and the emergence of armed political groups in the region. As far as his actions in response to the conflict were concerned, he said he wrote to all international parties concerned and to local groups involved. In response to questions by the floor alleging that he has not sufficiently dealt with the matter in any way measured to the size of the conflict, he was adamant that he did enough and that he is not in power to do more. In response to a comment which connected him during his reign to the start of the process of arming ethnic groups, he for the first time, to my knowledge, admitted that he handed over arms to some tribal leaders (Omad) to defend themselves during the attacks in Gardood area of the Nuba Mountains.

In his speech, Sadiq placed great emphasis on the diversity of Sudan and how he and his party have now taken that fact home and are allowing it to be embodied in their political thinking and action. He asserted that they now deeply believe that the rise of Islamic state in Sudan is implausible. I find that interesting as Ashafee Khidir in his lecture on the previous day also asserted his believe that Sudan will never be governable by an ideological state, as he put it, be it from the left or the right.

Talking of Ashafee;s lecture, he was more interested in the reasons why should they as National Democratic Alliance negotiate with the government in Cairo. He believes that the process could lead to amicable dismantling of the regime in Khartoum, given the difficulty the Intifadha (popular up-rise) project and the military action are facing. Not saying why, he more than once expressed his convictions that the more negotiating platforms are there the better it would be for the political process in Sudan. Nifasha, Aboja and Cairo are there a fourth one would be welcomed according to him. In response to doubts raised by the floor as to the seriousness and suitability of Egypt as a host to their negotiations, Ashafee was very confrontational saying that those who do not accept it should swallow it and wash it down with a sip of water.

An interesting point was raised by veteran Sudanese Baathist politician, Alsawi in Alshafee’s lecture. He said that sweeping changes have taken place in the Sudanese society in the recent years. The demographic features and structures of the Sudanese cities, towns and communities have changed beyond recognition. Attitudes, held-beliefs and the whole way of life the Sudanese experienced have been drastically altered. Taking into consideration these facts, should we expect the Intifada to occur the way it did in October 64 and April 85? The answer came from Engineer Hashim who expressed his unshaken believe that the Intifadha is possible and will occur. Ashafee was more open to the immense implications of Alsawi’s assertion.

Looking at the scene today you would see the enormous change that took place in a relatively short period of time. John Garang with all his charisma and pulling personality is out of the scene after signing the peace agreement with Sudan government. The intifadha of course didn’t happen. Khartoum Islamic regime is still in power and sharing it with SPLM who is operating in the absence of its visionary charismatic leader. Sadiq Almahadi is maintaining his stand of opposition to the government but, no one is sure what he is intending to do apart from waiting for things to happen. The Communist party is back operating in Khartoum , rebuilding itself with no sign to the long awaited conference and very much restricted to a trivial role in the National Assembly. Shafee’s hope that Cairo would produce some agreement between Northern political opposition parties similar to between GOS and SPLM obviously didn’t materialised the way he must have hoped. He might have swallow that with a sip of water. Darfur problem is escalating by the minute and increasingly changing into direct confrontation between GOS and the international community. The political landscape has changed dramatically with Khartoum Islamic regime had to share power with SPLM and all opposition parties operating almost freely within Khartoum. All the signs are that Darfur will inevitably be controlled by the international community despite the rhetoric coming out of the regime in Khartoum.