South Sudan Becomes 193rd UN Member Nation

The Republic of South Sudan, which achieved independence on Saturday after a four decade long civil war and an overwhelming 99% January referendum vote in favor of it, became the 193rd member of the United Nations today

After a UN Security Council resolution on Wednesday  recommended the country for membership, the UN General Assembly in New York voted by acclamation to admit South Sudan.  .

“Welcome, South Sudan. Welcome to the community of nations,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said to joyous applause .

UN Assembly President Joseph Deiss said it was a “historic and joyous moment.”


US Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Susan Rice stated that "South Sudan has taken its rightful place among the community of sovereign nations after great suffering and unimaginable loss."

South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar vowed his country will be a responsible member of the international community and respect its obligations under international law. 


It is the first new nation admitted into the United Nations since Montenegro joined in 2006.

It's Independence Day For South Sudan!

There were until a few moments ago 54 nations on the African continent, and now the Republic of South Sudan as of 12:01 AM their time becomes the latest one to be added to that list.   .

As you guessed by the name, it's the non-Muslim southern half of the nation of Sudan.  It's bordered by Ethiopia on the east, Kenya, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo to its south and the Central African Republic to the west.

Some of the more famous residents from there are current Chicago Bulls NBA player Luol Deng and the late Manute Bol

For four decades it was embroiled in a long civil war with the ruling Islamic northern half of the country that left over 2 million people dead and others scattered around the globe.

It ended with the signing of a peace agreement in Nairobi, Kenya on January 9, 2005 and southern Sudan becoming an autonomous region for six years.  In January 2011 it held a referendum that voted overwhelmingly (99% in favor) to  establish an independent Republic of South Sudan.

The party gets started in the Texas-sized landlocked nation's capital of Juba with many of the world's nations including the United States, Canada and Sudan prepared to recognize it.   The United States delegation to the independence ceremony will be led by UN Ambassador Dr. Susan Rice.

There will also be rapid United Nations action to admit it as its 193rd member nation, and they hope that expedited membership process will be completed by July 14.

But once the party is over, the new flag is raised, the new national anthem is sung and the parades are over through the streets of Juba and elsewhere in the country the Republic of South Sudan faces some serious growing pains that could make it difficult to build their new democratic nation.

Speaking of the new national anthem, just in case you were wondering, here are the words to it

Oh God
We praise and glorify you
For your grace on South Sudan
Land of great abundance
Upholds us united in peace and harmony

Oh motherland
We arise raising flag with the guiding star
And sing songs of freedom with joy
For justice, liberty and prosperity
Shall forevermore reign

Oh great patriots
Let us stand up in silence and respect
Saluting our martyrs whose blood
Cemented our national foundation
We vow to protect our nation
Oh God bless South Sudan

.

The 8 million residents of South Sudan and President Salva Kiir Mayardit face a dispute with Sudan over the Abyei region on its northern border, the fact that for now the oil that lies in South Sudan's oilfields can only reach world markets through pipelines that cross Sudan's territory, the nation has only 4000 km of paved road, 15% of the population is able to read, educational, health and other basic service delivery that needs improvement along with diversification of the predominately oil based economy. 

They have nothing but time, a lot of help and people rooting for them to successfully tackle those issues.  For now the proud residents of the Republic of South Sudan will take the day to celebrate their hard won independence courtesy of the bullet and the ballot, and the rest of us on planet Earth get to watch and marvel at the process of the birth of a new nation.

Nigeria Super Falcons Are Super Phobes

When it comes to international women's football, Nigeria's Super Falcons are quickly garnering an international reputation not for the quality of their play on the football pitch, but for their transphobia and homophobia.

They are longtime African continental powers and six time AWC champs, have gone to the knockout rounds of women's Olympic tournaments and are making their sixth appearance in the FIFA Women's World Cup.

While they have come up empty handed in terms of coming home with the big prizes in international play and are competitive at the FIFA youth levels of the beautiful game, when it comes to hatin', they are the undisputed world champs..   

Back in 2008 they did loud and long gender whining about the host Equatorial Guinea team during the Africa Women's Cup tournament and claimed that Bilguissa and Salimata Simpore and team captain Anonma Genevova were men.

Karma swiftly kicked in as the ladies from Equatorial Guinea upset Nigeria 1-0 in the semis of the AWC tournament and eventually won it all on home soil.  Genevova was the MVP of that tournament and fittingly scored the winning goal in the 58th minute of their semifinal match against the Super Falcons on a free kick that Nigerian goalkeeper Precious Dede mishandled..

That episode was swiftly followed up by karma rearing its head in the case of a talented teen played named Bessy Ekaete Boniface who was discovered to be intersex and dismissed from the Super Falcons camp . 

The Super Falcons avenged their embarrassing for them 2008 loss to Equatorial Guinea by beating them 4-2 in the 2010 AWC final in South Africa to punch their World Cup ticket to Germany, but the sore winners still filed a complaint with the CAF against the Equatorial Guinea squad with the same 'that's a man' charges aimed at Genevova and the Simpore sisters.

The complaint was dismissed by the Confederation of African Football, the continental governing body of football and FIFA, but enough blood was drawn by the constant Nigerian gender grousing to where the Simpore sisters were left off the Equatorial Guinea World Cup squad.

Genevova is still the captain of the team and played in the team's opening Group D l-0 loss against Norway.

But back to the latest drama surrounding the Super Phobes, oops the Super Falcons.  

38 year old Eucharia Uche, who played for the Super Falcons in the 2007 FIFA World Cup, became the first female coach of the women's national team in 2009 in the wake of the anger in Nigeria and Nigerian Football Federation concern over the poor 2008 AWC tournament performance.

But Uche's first trip to the FIFA Women's World Cup as the Super Falcon head coach is under a controversial cloud as she admitted that she purged suspected lesbian players off the team no matter what their talent level.  She also compounded it by admitting that she used her religious beliefs and religious doctrine in an attempt to 'rid her team of homosexual behavior' which she termed in a March 16, 2001 interview in Nigeria's Daily Sun paper as a 'dirty issue,' and 'spiritually, morally very wrong.'

Well, so how did the new 'moral' Super Falcons do?

They lost their opening Group A match to France 1-0 in a lackluster performance, and oh yeah, they still have group matches coming up against the back to back defending FIFA women's world champion Germany and the CONCACAF champs Canada.

Usually, I'm rooting for teams from the Mother Continent to do well in any international sporting event.   But in the case of the Super Phobes, I'm rooting for the karmic wheel to kick in.  May they get the results they  deserve in Group A play and a long depressing plane ride back home to Abuja with the quickness.