Idriss Deby Itno: Death of a Warrior President, by Alexander Ekemenah

Mr Déby, 68, a career military officer who seized power in 1990 in a coup, was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal last August [2020]. He was re-elected for a six-year term with 79.32% of the votes cast [April 11, 2021], according to provisional results announced … by the national electoral body.

Ministers and senior officers said … that the head of state had visited the frontline between his army and a column of rebels who had launched an offensive from rear bases in Libya on Election Day, April 11.

May 20 marked exactly one month of the sudden death of President or Field Marshal Idriss Deby Itno of Chad. A lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge in the last month. The new regime headed by General Mahamat Deby Itno, who happened to be the son of the late President, has ostensibly stabilized itself in power, after throwing away the Constitution of the country that lays out the power structure, dissolution of the Parliament and proposing another general election in the next 18 months (already minus one month!).

Dying by the Bullets

The death of Field Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, the President of Chad who had ruled that unfortunate country with an iron fist for the past thirty years did come as a surprise to many watchers of that country and the region. But to keen observers of that country and the region, it may not have come as a surprise because of the inevitability of the ways all dictators, no matter how benevolent they might be perceived, no matter how eulogized or deodorized, end up their lives in disgrace either through violent deaths, kicked out of power like a soccer ball, debilitating ailment, etc.

President Idriss Deby Itno did not die as a hero contrary to what have been reportedly presented about his sudden and tragic demise in the media. The military which he helped build into a formidable fighting machine became his deux ex machina to which he was sacrificed like a dog. It was both his stronghold and his Achilles heel. It was a tragic ending.

He shot his way to power in D’Njamena in early December 1990, after overthrowing the then-President Hissene Habre, through the barrel of the gun and went out through the same barrel of the gun at the battlefront. The seed he sowed more than thirty years ago has grown to consume him. It was harvest time. In the ripeness of time and at the zenith of his earthly power, he was plucked from the pinnacle of power like a rotten fruit that was no longer fit for human consumption. He was consumed in the inferno he stoked through his iron-fisted rule for three decades, suppressing oppositions, mismanaging the human and material resources of his country.

He was dispatched to the Greater Beyond with gunshots sustained at the battlefront where he has gone to fight the rebels against his dictatorial government. It was a date with destiny awaiting him but unknown to him.

But in the media reports examined for this review article, Idriss Deby was painted and deodorized as a hybrid dictator, a kind of benevolent leader, for maintaining a tight grip on his country, for helping to maintain “regional stability”, for having a “powerful military” (even stronger than Nigeria!), for doing the biddings of imperialist powers of the West, notably France and the United States, for winning six consecutive presidential elections (until he met his waterloo at the battlefront) – but without regard to the enormous sufferings of Chadians in the last thirty years under his iron-fisted rule, without economic development of this country despite its considerable rich oil and other solid mineral resources.

It is an irony of life. Idriss Deby won his last (sixth) presidential election without waiting to give his victory speech before rushing to the battlefront where he tragically caught gunshots on April 19, and later died on April 20. What compelled him to rush to the battlefront to confront the rebel group fighting his regime in so shoddy a manner? What happened to his military commanders that he could not rely on them to direct the battle at the frontlines – instead of sticking out his head? Was he persuaded to go to the battlefront so as to entrap him and have him eliminated for reasons yet unknown to us? Who persuaded him to embark on such a reckless or perilous adventure to meet his sudden death? Was he a victim of conspiracy spurned and woven by unknown forces?

There can be no doubt that Deby loved soldiering. He can be considered a modern chevalier, who lived his life to the fullest but at the same gathering sundry enemies against his dictatorial regime over three decades. It is also obvious that he did not apply wisdom, did not look at the crystal ball, did not evaluate the available intelligence before rushing to the battlefront to meet his death. It was a foolhardy adventure that cannot be excused under his love of soldiering.

There can be no doubt that Deby left his country heavily shortchanged. He left his people under the constant threat of the jihadist rebels fighting to take over Chad. He left his people in abject poverty with his 31-year-old iron-fisted rule despite the rich resources that could have made his country more stable and prosperous. He preferred to do the biddings of the imperialist West rather than protect the true sovereignty of his country by welding the various ethnic groups in his country together. For this unenviable but tragic achievement, Idriss Deby was being praised to the high heavens by the Western media.

According to The Guardian Editorial: “Déby was not known for democratic or developmental credentials, which is a cause for worry to today’s Chad. For 30 years that he led the oil-rich nation, he fought terrorists as hard as he cracked down on opponents, protesters and even the press. The capital was a seat of daily battles with protesters. In the build up to the last election, public dissenters risked it all with the police. Reports had it that several persons were killed or injured following Déby’s decision to contest for sixth-term. His was a repressive regime for as long as it lasted. And that legacy has survived with the imposition of his son as the next president. Shortly after his death was announced, the government and parliament were immediately dissolved and a military council led by 37-year-old Mahamat Idriss Déby took charge of affairs.”

He also had Boko Haram insurgents from Nigeria to contend with. He also led the battle against the insurgent group to the chagrin of the Nigerian military High Command. To the eternal shame of Nigeria and its military commanders, Deby was reported to have defeated the insurgents, liberated some territories and handed the same back to Nigeria – where the Nigerian military was going forward and backwards unable to achieve a decisive victory against the deadly group. The same Boko Haram has now also established its foothold in Northwest Nigeria, Niger State to be precise, where it has hoisted its flag, collecting revenues from people and ultimately forming a parallel government or dual power in Nigeria. Boko Haram was also reported to be distributing economic palliatives to people in Yobe State during Ramadan. (When a violent non-state actor opposed to the sovereignty of a State goes about doing what it likes without challenge from the State, such a State is finished, technically speaking!).

The impotence, confused ideological and epistemological crisis of the Nigerian State is revealed by the press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs aftermath of the death of Deby, eulogizing his dictatorship and/or despotism, calling him the “true son of Africa”, etc. The raging crisis of the Nigerian State was practically lost on the Federal Government which, at any rate, did not come as a surprise because of the peculiar situation at hand in Nigeria.

Indeed, when the new President, General Mahamat Deby Itno, visited Nigeria on May 14, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria received him but failed to condemn the coup that brought Mahamat Deby Itno to power.

“President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday [May 14, 2021] hosted Chad’s military ruler, Mahamat Deby, in Abuja. At the event, the Nigerian leader did not condemn the coup that brought Mr Deby to power but said Nigeria will assist Chad to stabilize and return to constitutional order.”

General Mahamat Deby Itno had earlier visited the Niger Republic on May 10, 2021, to meet the newly elected President of the Niger Republic. During the visit, there were discussions between the two leaders over the security situation in the Sahel region.

“Chad’s new leader, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, on Monday, made his first visit to Niger, a fellow Sahel country fighting jihadist insurgents, since coming to power at the head of a military junta after the shock death of his father last month.”

After arriving in Niamey, the Niger capital, the 37-year-old general held talks with newly elected President Mohamed Bazoum, an aide to Bazoum said. He was then scheduled to head to the west of the country to meet Chadian troops deployed under a regional anti-jihadist mission. Deby “came to see his troops (who are deployed) in Tera, and he used the occasion to hold talks” with Bazoum, the source said, without giving further details.

Alexander Ekemenah is a Chief Analyst at NEXTMONEY