The Nuba Vision

Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2001

Dear reader

You might have noticed that the last issue of NAFIR Newsletter, volume 6 (January 2001) did not reach you and you may be wondering why? We sincerely apologized for this unusual delay which is out of our control. Suleiman Rahhal, Director of the International Nuba Coordination Centre (INCC) has edited NAFIR for the past six years. For reasons beyond INCC control the Leadership Council in the Nuba Mountains took the decision to replace him as editor and arranged for NAFIR to be produced by another person. This was due to a significant difference of opinion between the editor and some members of the Leadership Council, centred on three main issues; self-determination for the Nuba Mountains, the way this is handled by the SPLA leadership and the direction in which the Nuba struggle is heading for. The view maintained by the Editor was that the political rights of the Nuba people had not been sufficiently addressed neither by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nor by the Sudan People's Liberation Army. 

It is for these reasons that a group of Nuba and their supporters decided to produce a free independent newsletter, called “THE NUBA VISION”, to allow our people to voice their concerns and defend their collective rights. It will also press for justice and democracy for all Sudan's other marginalised people. It is thus the view of the Editor-in-Chief, shared by other editors, as well as many committed intellectuals and activists, that the recent change of policy by the Leadership Council will not advance the interests of the Nuba struggle. This change in policy has deprived NAFIR of independence and credibility. In our view, we have a different set of problems that should  be addressed by the whole Nuba people and not by the Nuba in the SPLA alone. 

“The Nuba Vision” Newsletter will be a platform through which issues relating to the Nuba Mountains can be heard and discussed by people inside and outside Sudan. It will also serve to harness ideas from different groups, organisations and communities to formulate policies and determine the Nuba future, and frustrate the hegemonic aspirations of the traditional elite.

The Nuba Vision will target the Sudanese people as a nation, highlighting the actions of successive governments that rule Sudan in their name, drawing attention to their failure to initiate any meaningful educational or economic development for the people of the Nuba Mountains. The disastrous consequences of these failures include mass migration of the Nuba from their homeland to cities in northern Sudan and neighbouring African countries, which resulted in suffering and displacement. Children grow up without home or identity and without any meaningful future or chances of education. 

The Nuba Vision will also target the international community, drawing their attention to the genocide and suffering of the Nuba people. We intend to impress on them the importance of bringing pressure to bear on the Sudanese Government to embrace a just solution. A solution that will take into consideration the views and the rights of all of the Sudanese people. It will appeal to the international community for humanitarian aid currently denied to the needy in the Nuba Mountains .

Although the Nuba Vision will continue to adopt partly similar policies that had been adopted by the former NAFIR, The Nuba Vision will have a wider role to play in terms of putting the Nuba issue clearly and squarely not only to the Nuba people but to the whole of the Sudanese people and to the international community at large. It will concentrate on lobbying and advocacy, campaigning for the plight of the Nuba people and for a comprehensive peace settlement. Finally, The Nuba Vision will rely upon your subscription and your support. Without it the Nuba will have no independent voice and their predicament will not be brought to the attention of the outside world. Readers and others are welcome to send their articles. However, the editors maintain the right to edit or reject any article.