By Agele Benson Amos
Yei River County elders have decided to rename streets and local administrative units to conserve community cultural and traditional values. The decision to rename the streets and at least one payam came as a result of elders deciding to do away with what has been referred to as “colonial” names.
The raging controversy over renaming and replacement of colonial street names with local ones has resulted in the formation of an advisory committee to spearhead the exercise. Michael Modi Apollo, who is also advisor for Kakwa Community Living in Juba, is the chairman of the Street and Administrative Units Renaming committee in Yei River County. He said that the six year plan will be completed once all streets are renamed based on the names of great mountains, rivers, trees, and men and women of Yei River County. This, he insisted, must be done before the end of the referendum scheduled for 9th January 2011.
“This will enable the younger generation to recall and know the historical background of the county”, he said.
Mr Michael Modi Apollo said the names of the residential areas of Dar-salam, Gwafa, Lomuko and Nyakama will have to be replaced immediately with local names, and added that the Street and Administrative Renaming Committee will also rebrand streets and avenues in Yei County.
To show Yei River County’s elders mean business, they have already proposed five names to replace the current name of Yei Town Payams. What remains is that they are yet to identify the name of a great man in Yei County. The renaming of any street and administrative unit in Yei River County will always be crowned with cultural and traditional rituals and blessing ceremonies.
According to the Street and Administrative Units Renaming Committee, Payams with names of Otogo, Tore, Lasu and Mugwo will be blessed and continue to be used in their current form as they are names of great mountains, rivers, and great men and women.
Mr Michael Modi Apollo warned indigenous Southern Sudanese people against giving foreign names to their children without knowing and understanding the meaning of the name and their connection to their historical background. “Local names and religious names with meaning must only be used”, he added.
The idea of renaming streets and administrative units in Yei River County is not welcomed by everybody. Mr Ndole Ndoromo Kumama, the chairperson for Yei River County Referendum Committee, said the idea of renaming the streets and the Payam before the referendum is “pre-mature”.
According to him, those who started the programme must ensure that only names of credible people and martyrs be used in renaming the streets and Payams in Yei River County.
Mr Godwill Soro Elioba, Secretary for Street and Administrative Units in Yei River County advised citizens to welcome and support the on-going programme, arguing that it stood to benefit the younger generation. He said the programme is viewed as an avenue for providing historical background to South Sudanese cultural values. Godwill called for unity amongst local leaders in Yei River County and the neighbouring counties.
Grace Kiden, who lives in Lomuku, an area designated for renaming, said she appreciated the idea of the renaming streets and administrative units in Yei River County because, according to her, it helps conserve traditional and cultural values despite the current fashion for novelty in society.Grace Kiden said the issue of culture and history has greatly affected the current generation in the sense that most people now speak foreign languages and behaved unethically at the expense of their mother tongue, cultures and traditions. She urged parents to take a leading role in explaining the meaning of the new names before they are misinterpreted by the younger generations.
