political wing of the movement to the military wing. Oduho was committed to the unity of Southern Sudan, while Lagu wanted to withdraw into a smaller "Equatoria" region. Southern Sudan government member 1972–1983 On 3 May 1972 the Addis Ababa agreement was ratified as "The Southern Provinces Regional Self-Government Act 1972" (SPRGA-1972), bringing a temporary halt to the civil war. Joseph Oduho and Samuel Aru Bol were appointed to the southern executive. He was given the position of Minister of Housing in the Southern Regional Government, Juba (1972–75). It was Oduho who, on behalf of the SPRGA-1972, negotiated and signed an agreement with the Yugoslavian Government to construct Ministries and Ministers' quarters in Juba in 1973. Both the Ministries and Ministers' quarters have currently accommodated over 90% of the Government of South Sudan cabinet. In 1975, Joseph Oduho was accused of plotting for southern secession and was arrested, but was released in 1977 after an amnesty declared by President Jaafar Nimeiry when the Sudan Socialist Union (SSU) and northern political parties had come to an agreement. Joseph Oduho ran successfully for election in 1977. He was appointed Minister of Cooperative and Rural Development (1978–1980) and Minister of Labour and Administrative Reforms (1980–1982). He was a member of the SSU Central Committee. In 1982 there were disturbances across the south, with some ethnic minority leaders calling for greater decentralization. Joseph Oduho was opposed to this, consistently advocating southern unity. He thought that decentralization and tribalism were being fostered by northern politicians in order to weaken the south. Second civil war 1983–1993 In 1983, President Nimeiry dissolved the Southern Region that had been established following the 1972 Addis Ababa agreement. Joseph Oduho went into exile again and became a founding member of the SPLM. When the party was established on 16 May 1983, Joseph Oduho was made chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee and Colonel John Garang, a Dinka army officer, was made Chief of Staff of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Later Garang made himself leader of the SPLA/M. For several years Oduho was imprisoned by the SPLA. He was released in 1992 to bury his late son, Cdr. Kizito Omiluk Oduho, in Lobira, Oduho's home village. He was smuggled to Uganda in East Africa after a failed attempt on his life by the SPLM/A Mainstream. He was picked up by his son, Ohiyok David Oduho, who worked as an Information