70-80% proven oil reserves in Southern Sudan with no refining and exporting infrastructure, with the refining capacity indelibly poised in the North....what a tragedy for one of Africa's most prolific in this natural resource. Sudan is crying out for development, it is crying out for the nation's wealth to be distributed equitably among its people...there must be someone out there post referendum to assit in brokering a workable peace deal that will redound to the benefit of all parties concerned....Sudan is crying out...help must be on the way!

Thanks for your comments Elison- coincidentally, I just landed in Juba 2 hours ago. I couldn't agree more with your sentiments! While the spirit of celebration is certainly in the air on the eve of July 9th, so much heavy lifting remains to be done to create a stable and self sufficient South Sudan. I was thinking mountains rather than hills :-)- but your point from Mandela is well taken. 

Travis

good for you. Juba to borrow a phrase is now the place where "the tide of history meets the current of hope".. they will have their challenges and make mistakes. but the toil, the tears, the sweat and the blood of the pple puts a burden on their leaders that I do hope will be lifted with the dignity and resilience that the people have shown.

I watched with pride, with joy enormous and also with trepidation the independence ceremony today. Trepidation not because I am of the view that 'South Sudan' cannot make it as an independent country, but trepidation regarding the oil and gas resources. Challenges abound and the 'vultures' will arrive bearing 'good tidings'... who is there to ensure that South Sudan is not fleeced of its wealth? Who is there to ensure that there is quick and effetive devlopment for the people of South Sudan. Let us keep Sudan on the front burners of our minds...

Gizel:

You pondered: who is there to ensure South Sudan's effective development!

The South Sudanese themselves, of course, and the good will of the rest of the world. I have no doubt that numerous well-meaning nations around the world will line up to assist them but it is they who have to define their  development priorities and maintain the courage and vision that sustained them for five decades of brutal warfare that took the lives of countless numbers of their fellow countrymen.

I have never heard of a dead country, not even Somalia that the world may have seem to prefer to let go; in pockets of the insanity children still go to school, hopes are still entertained for a better future. Therefore, I believe South Sudan will thrive, maybe not overnight but a few years down the road on account of its numerous children scathered allover the world anxious to prove their detractors wrong. Imagine what the British press said about what has become the greatest country in the world at the time America went to war with itself ( her civil war.)

Besides, the world has realy changed. Every nation and all leaders are now watched in realtime. Now the rest of the world can see any insanities as they are unfolding. All eyes will be on the newest member of our worldly community of nations and her leaders. Let us all wish the Peoples' Republic of South Sudan well and a prosperous future!

The only unsetling part of a new nation being born today out of ONE  in Africa is that this disheartens those of us who are wishing for a political unionization of Africa or regions of it ( such as the EAC, ECOWAS) and here we witness futher balkanization.

Eng. Ahmed Finoh, MPA

Durham, NC/USA

Great exchange Gizel and Ahmed. Some are simply jubilant at South Sudan's independence, while others can't seem to bring themselves to rejoice - solely bemoaning the daunting challenges ahead. To my mind a healthy middle ground is the most prudent way forward.

Following the tragic failure of Britain's decolonization process in Sudan, which fomented over 50 years of war, the historic division of the nation now marks a new era for two regions that were never properly suited for unity. While this sadly demonstrates the ineffectiveness of Sudan's efforts towards state formation and national cohesion, it also provides remedy for many of the root causes of Sudan's North/South civil wars. 

In the discourse on trepidation regarding South Sudan's future prospects, there is both political spin and truth. Political spin in that the South's glaring underdevelopment was among the seminal arguments used within the UN and AU to refute its right to self-determination. These notions gave rise to a South Sudan which would be born a 'failed state', as if the united polity of Sudan was not already failed or at least failing. The truths in the justifiable fears related to the South’s independence of course arise from the fact that its challenges are indeed daunting. With an 85% illiteracy rate, staggering infant and maternal mortality statistics, and a multitude of security sector threats it’s no wonder that many are worried about the new republic.

In the end however, as with every nation on Earth, South Sudan has the right to get things wrong, and move in fits and starts towards recognizing an ever more perfect union. My hope is that they will move earnestly towards that end, though there will certainly be bumps along the way. 

For anyone interested in following the latest developments in the two new Sudans, I've just launched a twitter account solely dedicated to this. Please join with me on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/TwoNewSudans