19/12/2024
๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก,
๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ!
๐๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ โ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐๐.
I also do not claim wisdom or knowledge, or both. However, my many years in the social space have provided me with deep insights and experience. Every day, I meet young people struggling to find jobs, internships, or apprenticeship programmes. The businesses we have in Juba and elsewhere do not serve our own people; they do not offer work opportunities for our fellow youth. Instead, they hire foreigners to work as managers, accountants, or service providers. The repeated narrative I keep hearing is that "South Sudanese loathe working; theyโre lazy." This is not trueโif they were motivated in the same way as foreigners, they would improve their lot.
I am a natural born South Sudanese, which gives me a rounded perspective to study and understand my peopleโ their attitudes, aspirations, and inclinations. From where I stand, my people are hardworking, resilient, and optimistic. The challenge that has persisted is the lack of employment opportunities.
Every nation is the responsibility of its citizenry. It is the people of a country who ensure its progress; foreigners and multinational businesses are merely actors, with profit as their primary goal. Itโs widely assumed that foreigners and their commercial counterparts are generally driven by greed, aided by domestic elites. This is evident today in our markets, which are already under the grip of foreign actors. As they tighten their control over our economy, the youth suffer even more.
Our president can be appreciated and commended for the spirited efforts we see, trying to ensure a stable economy that works for everyone. However, the current conditions seem to undermine those efforts. Sometimes, it can be difficult to find someone else to blame. Inwardly, we (the youth) may have contributed to our present circumstances. This is not to reinforce the notion that youth are lazy, but rather the opposite: they are often unmotivated, either by the private sector or their government.
Everywhere I go in Juba, I encounter brilliant, creative, and innovative youth, brimming with energy and ready to contribute in a unique way. Yet many of these young people have resigned themselves to sitting under trees, hoping things may improve and that better days are ahead. With that mindset, I worry that we are losing a huge chunk of human capital that we could have utilized to achieve development, security, and eventual stability.
As I stated earlier, I bring nothing to the table, and I wish I could.
๐๐ต๐ผ๐น ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด,
๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ผ
