Dear Governor,
Congratulations on your new assignment as the governor of Warrap State You have a difficult job ahead. Warrap State suffers from internal conflict, tribe against tribe, community against community, and relative against a relative. As a son of the state who now lives in the United States, I talk with people at home, and I worry. I am sure you are also worried. How can this unrest be? How can it be stopped? How can our people return to peace and brotherhood?
The causes of the difficulties are many and challenging to understand. However, the way forward may be much easier to envision. Quite simply, when people do not have enough when they feel their dreams and expectations are lost, they get angry and cannot work together to solve problems. Community requires a sense of security and a belief in a better future.
Everywhere in South Sudan, many of the problems are the same. The country needs a model for improvement. Hopefully, under your leadership, Warrap State can provide that model.
More than anything else, our state and our country need economic development. We need to create opportunities for everyone to believe in the future and the possibilities of tomorrow.
Accomplishing economic development may be easier than many think. In our home state, we have the beginnings of a robust agricultural economy. Our people have skills in planting and husbandry. We need to bring in investors and potential customers for our products. We also will need engineers and technicians who can help our people learn new skills and approaches.
In much of the world today, there are problems raising enough food. In many places, the issues are made worse by drought, something that is becoming more widespread and something entirely foreign to our region. We should be able to connect our communities with foreign companies and governments that would support Warrap State as we develop.
Let me give you one example of the kind of cooperation I envision. Living as I do in Arizona in the United States, I am keenly aware that the Saudi Arabian dairy industry is paying a fortune to raise hay here and then ship that hay back to Saudi Arabia. Warrap State is far closer to Saudi Arabia than Arizona is. We can raise hay more cheaply because Arizona must dig deep wells to get the water for irrigation. In the U.S., the Saudi company must buy its fuel from American companies instead of using their production. For such reasons, it would make great sense for this hay project to take place in our state, where it could generate wealth and help create other industries, such as mechanics, to care for the machinery.
The problem is approaching the Saudi dairy industry or any other similar prospect. We lack a way to interface between our people, our state government, and outside possibilities. What we will need to go forward is a bank, preferably one that is chartered in another country with a branch in our state capital. Using those of our people living in the diaspora, that bank could represent the state and our people and facilitate the actual business part of projects.
Again, I’d like to give you an example. Recently, in Moscow, there was a meeting of BRICS. A representative of that bank could have attended to discuss the possibilities of doing business with some influential countries. Imagine if we were able to grow nuts for Iran, another country that is facing severe drought issues, or beef for the U.A.E.
I would love to help create these opportunities if this idea appeals to you.
With sincerest best wishes,
Deng Mayik Atem
Publisher of Ramciel Magazine and Author of Jumping Over the Ram