Obituary: - Joshua Opal De Lual (1955 - 2009)

Joshua Opal Lual Yier passed away on January 26, 2009 at the age of 53 in Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The cause of his death was pancreatic cancer. Joshua was born on September 1, 1955 in the village of Jikmir , Nasir District, Upper Nile State , Southern Sudan . He belonged to Nyanjiok sub-clan of Wang clan of Gajiok sub-section of Eastern Nuer. He was born to the union of late Lual Yier and Nyakang Nyoach.

Joshua Opal's body is caring out from Church back to Funeral home.

His father Lual Yier was a local chief of Chiewang sub-clan in Nasir. But at the height of the Second World War in 1945, Britain , which was the colonial power in Sudan , drafted him along with many Sudanese to liberate Ethiopia from Italian invasion. As the result, Joshua’s father was killed in the battle of Gambella in 1945 by Italian sub-marines. The Sudanese and Ethiopian combined forces defeated Italy and accompanied Emperor Haile Sellassie I back to his throne in Addis-Ababa. It is to be recalled that Joshua Opal coined the name “Jiathnyang” for Emperor Haile Sellasie I and all Nuers know Haile Sellasie by that name. Later, Joshua called his first son, Jiathnyang in the honour of the Emperor.

Joshua had three wives: Sahara , Anna and Martha. Saraha and Anna passed away. His current wife Martha lives with him in Canada . Joshua is survived by his wife and eight children who are:

• Tadelech, Nyagoa, Tethloach, and Nyaluat wholive in Canada .
• Jiathnyang and Nyakanglive in the United States of America .
• His son Khor lives in Ethiopia

Joshua started elementary school in Nasir, but fled to Ethiopia along with David Dak Gach and Chuol Duoth Gok in 1962 during the formative years of Anya Nya I in Upper Nile State . He became Anya Nya I soldier briefly and was the one who received Sudanese refugees at the camp of Oder with the Ethiopian Government and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the first time in the history of southern Sudanese struggle. In 1965, Joshua and his two friends decided to go to school and it was Ras Imru Mesfin, a General in the Ethiopian army, who decided to take them to his home. It is here where Joshua completed his high school and decided to become Ethiopian Citizen. After completing high school, Joshua was sent for teachers training for two years and became a teacher for Junior high school in 1967.

Joshua was appointed as a district commissioner for Itang from 1976-1977 where he served the residents and assisted Sudanese refugees and Any Nya I forces in Itang. From 1982-1991, Joshua, was made Deputy Governor and Governor of Gambella during the Dergue regime of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia . This appointment made Joshua the first Nuer governor in Ethiopia . During his term, he continued to help Sudanese fleeing atrocities in Sudan . It was Joshua who picked up Dr. John Garang de Mabior, the late leader of the SPLM/A, with helicopter in Thiajak when he caught Malaria on his way to Ethiopia in 1983. His contribution to the struggle of Southern Sudanese is appreciated by the SPLM/A leadership.

In 1991, the Dergue regime fell and Joshua fled to Nasir , Sudan , where he took refuge for two years. In 1993, Joshua went to Kenya where he stayed for two years and got the chance for resettlement in Canada , where he has been till his untimely death on 26 January 2009 .

While in Canada , Joshua worked very hard. He sponsored his family to come to Canada and supported them very well. He also supported his family back in Ethiopia . Joshua became an advisor for the Sudanese and Ethiopian communities in Edmonton and Calgary . Uncle Joshua is a hero for the Sudanese and Ethiopians alike and he will be truly missed by all of us.