Be patriotic, secure your country, Buhari tells Chadian warlords

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Sunday, in Doha, urged warring factions in the Republic of Chad to prioritise national interest and secure their own country, rather than decimating it through infighting.

“Other groups who think they are strong should be patriotic, settle down and secure their own country,” Buhari said when he received the country’s transition President and Head of Government, General Mehmet Idris Déby-Itno, who visited him on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries in Doha, the Qatari capital.

The President also expressed sympathy for the young Chadian leader who, he said, inherited a fragile state from his deceased father, Idris Déby.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Sunday titled, ‘President Buhari charges Chadian factions to support an ongoing democratic transition.’

The late Idris Déby seized power in 1990 when his rebel forces overthrew then-President Hissene Habre.

Habre was eventually convicted of human rights abuses at an international tribunal in Senegal in May 2016.

However, his regime has been fraught with resistance from rebel groups and opposition parties.

One of those revolts was initiated by the Chadian rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad, between April 11 to May 9 2021, days after a controversial presidential election gained him a sixth term in office.

Deby became one of many casualties of war when, on April 21 2021, he was shot dead by rebels while leading his army on the frontline.

Shortly after his death, the Chadian military named his son, General Mehmet Idris Déby-Itno, as the head of a transition council that was meant to last for only 18 months but has now stretched two years.

Speaking of the decades-long conflict that has ravaged the oil-rich nation, Buhari told Déby-Itno “I watch developments in your country from a safe distance. As a close neighbour, I go to sleep and wake up with the issue on my mind.

“I sympathise with you, not only as a youth but due to the position of some of the groups operating outside the country including Libya, even though this is a problem you inherited from your father.

“I am really reduced to praying on this matter. Other groups who think they are strong should be patriotic, settle down and secure their own country.”

The President thanked the Chadian leader for the visit, assuring him that, “as a good neighbour, I am prepared at any time to listen to your representations, political, security or any other matter.”

On his part, Deby-Itno said he had come to thank Buhari for the support he provides to him and his country as they undertake the ongoing transition to democracy, which he said is going well.

He wished the Nigerian leader a long life and congratulated him on the ongoing democratic transition in Nigeria.

“We hope we will continue to see you even after your departure from office,” he added.

(Punch)