21 February 2008
editorial
Abuja — Normalcy is returning to Chad, our north-eastern neighbour, where rebel forces recently failed to seize the reins of power from President Idriss Deby.
The largely semi-desert country of Chad, Africa's fifth-largest, is strategically located at the centre of several current theatres of war in the Sahel region, including Sudan's Darfur to its east and the Central African Republic to its south. Rich in gold and uranium, Chad stands to benefit even more from its recently-acquired status as an oil-exporting country. Poverty is rife in the country, however, and its infrastructures are inadequate. Its health and social conditions compare unfavourably with other countries in the region. Like Nigeria, Chad became independent in 1960; but its post-colonial history has been marked by instability and violence. It has never known a peaceful regime change.
The incumbent President Deby seized power in a 1990 coup d'état supported by France, Sudan and Libya, but he has since offended them to various degrees. Both France and Libya, with which Chad has long disputed the ownership of the Aouzou Strip, suspected him of double-dealing over the allocation of drilling rights for the Doba Basin oil project in south-eastern Chad during the 1990s. Elf, the French oil giant, walked out of the project in 1999 and Paris considered Exxon's subsequent involvement as lead player a stinging defeat in its geopolitical tussle with the United States for influence in Africa's oil-rich regions.
The tide began to turn against President Deby in 2002 when, against the wishes of most Chadians, he amended the country's constitution to run for a third term in office. That prompted a wave of desertions by some of his influential aides and sowed the seeds of the current rebellion which he only survived because of the logistical intelligence and sundry support of French troops. By purporting to defend N'djamena airport to enable the evacuation of French citizens, the French military effectively prevented the rebels from attacking and grounding the Chadian government's helicopter gunships, thus swinging the fight in the government's favour.
The Chadian rebels have accused President Deby of violent and corrupt rule, rigging elections to stay in power, embezzling much of the country's oil wealth, and favouring members of his minority Zagawa clan above other citizens. Given that Chad and Sudan also accuse each other, with some justification, of supporting their respective groups of armed opposition; that Cameroon fears N'djamena's potential to destabilise its northern provinces and has long complained about the heavily-armed "Zaraguina" - highway robbers effectively exported from unpaid elements of the Chadian armed forces which have also been known to operate in Nigeria; and that Chad is widely accused of involvement in the chaos that has engulfed the Central African Republic (CAR) since the mid-1990s, much of which is the handiwork of the Chadian irregulars that helped François Bozize to CAR's presidency in 2002, we see little prospect for stability in the volatile Sahel region while Chad smoulders.
The French military's role in the recent conflict has moreover demonstrated that its presence in the Sahel, far from being a mere vestige of an imperial past, is a potent tool of contemporary diplomacy. That raises serious questions from our perspective about the mission of the French-dominated European Union "peacekeeping" forces currently deploying in eastern Chad.
The overwhelming desire of Nigerians for peace in Chad is predicated on the historical, economic and ethno-cultural ties that bind our two countries. These have always conjoined with geographical proximity to ensure that Nigeria is never spared the consequences of Chad's internal conflicts. Thousands of Chadian refugees are estimated to have fled to Nigeria as a result of the latest turmoil, and no one knows if and when they will ever return home. Nigeria therefore has an impeccable political, socio-cultural and economic interest in the enthronement of social stability in Chad.
Accordingly, we urge President Yar'adua, with the considerable resources at his command, to lean on N'djamena, Khartoum, Paris, and other centres of power to moderate their stands and strive instead to mitigate the enormous human and material costs of the strife, which Chad has had to bear for almost forty years by finding common grounds between the Chadian president and his numerous opponents.
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