I write not as a critic of elders, but as a beneficiary of their sacrifice and a witness to our collective drift. I write with respect, but also with urgency. This is not a moment for silence, nor for repetition of old arguments in new rooms. It is a moment for direction.
Many of us in the younger generation feel that Equatoria and South Sudan are moving in circles. Meetings are held, statements are issued, grievances are rehearsed, and yet the ground continues to shift beneath our feet. Land shrinks. Security erodes. Families leave. Hope thins. We speak, but nothing seems to move forward.
This circular motion is not caused by a lack of intelligence or commitment. It is caused by the absence of a clear compass.
That compass can only come from the elders.
Elders are not needed because they are louder or more numerous. They are needed because they see patterns where others see events. They remember where roads once led and why they collapsed. They carry institutional memory, moral authority, and regional credibility that no youth platform can manufacture.
This is therefore an appeal for elders to step forward, not as spectators of a crisis, but as its interpreters and architects of a way out.
Why the moment requires the elders’ direction
Equatoria’s struggle is often spoken of emotionally, but it must now be understood structurally. This is not a story of tribal competition or temporary insecurity. It is a story of land without protection, power without accountability, and a state design that rewards force over restraint.
Many young people feel like an angry bull in a narrow space. Wounded, provoked, and expected either to charge blindly or to submit quietly. Neither option leads anywhere.
What we need the elders to model is the posture of the lion. Patient, observant, strategic, and decisive only when conditions are right. Strength guided by judgment. Anger translated into purpose.
The world listens to lions, not bulls.
Why Elders Must Break the Isolation
Wisdom is not short in Equatoria. It is scattered.
Many of our most capable elders are outside the country. Some are in academia. Some in the former civil service (I say the former because what we have currently does not resemble any form of civil service). Some in the church. Some in security and diplomacy. Others are simply quiet community anchors who no longer attend public meetings but still command respect.
The problem is not the absence of wisdom. It is the absence of convergence.
I ask elders inside and outside Equatoria to reach out deliberately to one another. Across generations. Across professions. Across geography. Not to form another loud platform, but to form a coherent mind.
Silence among elders is often interpreted by the young as abandonment. Division among elders is interpreted by the center as an opportunity. Neither should continue.
Why the region and the world must be engaged differently
South Sudan is poorly understood because it is poorly explained. Too often, our crisis is presented as a cultural failure rather than a political design failure. This framing excuses inaction and invites endless crisis management.
Elders can change this narrative.
The truth is simple and defensible. South Sudan is unstable not because it is diverse, but because power was centralized without restraint, land politicized without protection, and security militarized without civilian oversight.
Equatoria is not asking for sympathy. It is offering a stabilizing proposition.
A secure Equatoria reduces refugee flows, protects trade routes, and anchors regional calm. Neighboring countries need this stability not as charity, but as a shared interest. Beyond the region, a peaceful Equatoria can become a commercial and logistical bridge linking East and Central Africa to the Gulf and the Middle East. This is not ambition without foundation. It is geography waiting for governance.
But this message must be carried calmly, consistently, and credibly. Only elders can do this without being dismissed as partisan or impulsive.
A direct request from the young to the elders
We ask the elders to do three things.
- First, provide direction. Not slogans, but a clear strategic framework that tells us where we are going and what is non-negotiable.
- Second, impose discipline. On language, on fragmentation, on uncoordinated actions that weaken legitimacy and invite manipulation.
- Third, speak outward. To the region. To the world. To institutions of power wherever Equatorians reside. Translate our pain into a language that policymakers, investors, and partners understand.
Reflection without action is no longer enough. Action without reflection will destroy what remains.
This generation does not want to inherit anger. It wants to inherit a strategy.
If Equatoria and South Sudan are to break out of this circular motion, elders must step fully into their role. Not tomorrow. Now.
History will not ask whether elders were respected. It will ask whether, when the moment came to the guide, they chose to step forward.
This is that moment.
The Banana Republic.
The writer, Sokiri Lojuan Lojökudu, is a concerned South Sudanese. He can be reached via sokiril8@gmail.com.
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.