People heaved a sigh of relief by the arrival of the first batch of Nigerians, mostly students caught in the war in Sudan brought back to the country on Wednesday. They landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja in the night. They were three hundred and seventy six and evacuated from Egypt by Air Peace and Nigeria Air Force (NAF).
Foreign countries have scrambled to evacuate their citizens and buses were hired by the Nigerian government to take the students from Khartoum, Sudan to Aswan, Egypt, before they would be brought back home.
Egypt had also caused a problem by refusing the evacuated Nigerians entry at the border asking for normal visa procedure in this abnormal time. Eventually after many days things were sorted out.
Some of the evacuees have told a snippet of the ordeal they went through for many days. They suffered thirst and hunger and fear of the unknown. But at last they are home and we hope the rest will be brought back safely as well.
The war broke out in Sudan between the government soldiers and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force which includes militias controlled by the vice president on April 15.
Since Omar Hassan al-Bashir was deposed in a coup in 2019 having ruled since 1989, Sudan has not been stabled as the civilians that took part in the ‘revolution’ of removing him have been holding protests for return to civilian rule . The army from all indications is not in a hurry to relinquish power.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is head of the armed forces and therefore the country’s president, while General Hamdan Dagolo, better known as Hemeti is his deputy and the leader of the RSF.
In any case, a war is a terrible thing and may Nigeria not witness it again, that is after the civil war of 1967-1970. Those that think if Nigeria goes to war they would be insulated and suddenly have their ‘own’ country to run should take a lesson from Sudan. This is an internal war not an aggression from a foreign country.
Someone who had witnessed the Nigerian civil war once told me that if a war breaks out you would find yourself in another town while the members of your family would also find themselves in different other places and some may never meet again.
With over five hundred people dead and thousands injured, there are destructions; hospitals have run out of supplies. Even the Sudanese themselves have fled to neighbouring countries of Chad and South Sudan.
Sudan is already a poor country, now it is being made worse by the war causing displacement, destruction and poverty. Though the leaders of the warring factions are not fazed, they don’t care.
However, the massive evacuation of foreigners should worry them as they bring money to the economy of the country.
The cry for revolution as the only way for eradicating ‘corrupt’ leaders and bringing in ‘pure’ leaders that would usher in good governance devoid of corruption is a farce. It is romanticism, because as soon as the revolutionists are installed and tasted power they would sing a different tune and may become more corrupt than the previous leaders they accused of corruption.
They would amass wealth; hold on to power by any means and become the new dictators and terrors that would broker no opposition.
When the war is over, who will rebuild Sudan? Unlike Ukraine that is attacked by Russia and supported by the United State of America in its individual capacity and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) also led by the US as well because it is more like a proxy war between Russia and the west, as such it would be rebuilt by them.
It may probably remain in a perpetual state of getting aid of food, medicine and so on for decades without recovery.
By the way, where are the regional bodies and the above all the African Union (AU) people ask? But no matter what, the African Union should try its best to bring an end to the war in Sudan. It should be up and doing. We should wake up and not wait for others to come and help us. Africa has a lot of problems, we don’t need a war.
