(NSV) - Mohamed Wardi, certainly one of the giants of the Sudanese music has weighed in on the inevitable separation of southern Sudan in a recent interview translated for Sudan Votes website.

“The current unity is nothing but a lie and it is not attractive,” Wardi said, suggesting that failure of northern artists to incorporate southern Sudanese styles of singing in their lyrics, has contributed to making unity an ugly option.

Wardi, who spoke candidly about the state of the Sudanese music industry, challenged new artists and urged them to be mindful of the country’s diversity in their songs.

“As artists, we have not sought to integrate the northern heritage with that of the South, which is characterized by its richness, and which stresses that of the neighboring districts: our African identity,” he said.

“It is not enough for one to have the talent in order to be a (singer),” Wardi, who is a Nubian, added.

“Singers must have knowledge of their country’s cultural heritage, which is very rich in our country. Since they are singing for diversified nation, Sudanese singers must be familiar with the different styles of singing” in the country.

‘Joking’

On the hope for unity, Wardi told Hasan Farouk of the Khartoum based Al-Ahdath Newspaper that option was now beyond the reach.

“The best case to describe our situation is that of “the people of the cave” who were asleep,” he explained.

“We have thought along the five years since the Naivasha Agreement was signed in 2005, that it will not be implemented even after elections, just to wake up immediately to find ourselves calling for our attractive unity, as if joking.

“By we,” said Wardi, one of the most respected artists in Sudan, “I do not mean the northern part of Sudan, but all the Sudanese who have not worked for unity. As I have just mentioned, getting familiar with the other’s arts facilitates unity.”

The registrations for southern Sudan referendum are ongoing in the diaspora and in Sudan. Last week, the SSRC extended the date for registration for another week (until December 8).

On January 9, 2011, the people of southern Sudan will vote in a referendum on self-determination and national unity.

However, international consensus and opinion polls suggest Africa’s biggest country is headed for partition, if Sudan’s two ruling parties conduct timely, free and fair referendums.

Resolution of Abyei, a disputed oil rich region on the north-south border, an agreement on oil and where the borders lie, activists and analysts warn, will determine whether the country consolidates its shaky peace or reverts back to another costly war.

Abye issue is currently being handled at the presidency, and given the consistent breakdown of talks on the region in the last rounds; it’s unlikely that the inhabitants of this territory will be able to vote in January in a plebiscite to determine whether the region remains in the north, or whether it will join the south, as is expected.