Onyeama said early return to democracy and the stability of Chad should be paramount in the ongoing situation.
In a statement issued on the situation in Chad, he said Nigeria is willing to guide and mainstream the dialogue within the framework of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and ultimately, the African Union (AU).
The release which is termed an official statement of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the development in Chad reads in part: “Nigeria expresses great concerns over evolving developments in Chad. The interim leadership of Chad and all stakeholders, at home and abroad, including the two armed groups still fighting, must not allow the evolving developments in Chad to feed into more chaos with its attendant consequences. Nigeria calls for urgent consideration of dialogue among all the stakeholders, which Nigeria is willing to guide and mainstream, within the framework of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and ultimately, the African Union (AU). An early return to democratic governance in Chad should be the ultimate goal but the immediate objective is the stabilisation of Chad as well as the regions of ECCAS, ECOWAS and the Sahel.
“The influence and relevance of Idriss Deby Itno lay in his capacity to make Chad act as a buffer between North Africa, the Sahel, East and West Africa and, in particular, containing the negative extreme tendencies that are domiciled in these regions. In the Lake Chad region, the late President Itno and Chad remained the strongest allies of Nigeria in the Multinational Joint Taskforce, the Lake Chad Basin Commission and in the fight against Boko Haram and insurgency. The great leader of Chad will be missed and glowingly remembered for his efforts to stabilise our subregions and maintain the peace and their socio-economic development. His demise could lead to vacuums that could implode in these subregions, hence the need to appeal to all stakeholders in Chad to embrace dialogue to resolve their differences in the interest of peace and the sustainable development of Chad.”
