1.Introduction
One of the countries that gained the attention of international concern in the year 2000’s was chad . The region being landlocked and in need of serious humanitarian security was the topic that was discussed and debated , but what was more prominent and drew the attention of the countries across the globe was the discovery of oil in the region of Doba. A country that was located in the middle of Africa with no good access to transportation and basic economic needs , and with a history of trauma under the French colonial rule has made the region into one of the poorest counties in the world. In 2000, chad ranked 128 out of the 134 countries on the UN development programmes human development index.the country till date suffers from serious military and human insecurity which binds it to be in a political deadlock.
Oil in chad has been one of the major topic that has gained the attention and the maximum amount of extraction and benefit from the whole process has been accessed only to some of the rich pockets and companies to be precise. The country being ruled under the dictatorship of Idriss Deby since 1990’s has suffered serious military rule and power with no space for freedom of speech, autocratic rule governing the people till date. Civil wars and conflicts has occurred to abolish the governance of debt however, because of the unilateral modification in the constitution of two year term limit, now grants him unlimited term for ruling.
In the light of the above this paper would look at the chad and Cameroon oil pipeline project and the reason for the failure of the project, it will also give a brief introduction to the history of chad and the long autocratic rule that it is being ruled under and the economy, culture of the people. The paper will Also look at kind of development of politics played by the countries in case of resource crunch. The events that led to the country in being landlocked and a resource curse
2. economy of chad
Chad known as the dead heart of Africa is located in the harsh parts of the Sahara desert. Landlocked and located in central Africa region, with its capital as N’djamena. The country is split into 23 region with most of the population down in the south. Christianity, muslim, and animism are the major religion. 50% of the people following islam( sunni), 25% shia, and the other 25% non-denominational. Christians Make up about 1/3rd of the population and the rest 15% following gate indigenous beliefs.
Looking into the geography of the region the Northern part consist of the nomadic and semi people group like futani, tobou, maba, dzagwa people. The southern part as mentioned above consisted if the larger population where the life was done through agrarian and commercial based. the practise of polygamy was also seen to be commonly practised as most of the women were married before the age of 18.
When one looks into the history of chad the long trauma that caused them from the French colonial rule from 1900 onwards till the independence on 11 august 1960. However, even after gaining independence the autocratic rule of Francois Tombalbaye banning any sort fo political opposition which led to almost 40 years of civil war made not much difference to the weak economy of the country. To add to the misery the successor of Tombalbaye, Hissene Habre’s regime was considered to be no less and is often referred to as the “regime of bloody dictatorship with no form of liberty, equality or freedom for the people”- Delphine Djiraibe .
In the year 1990 Idriss deby, took over the country through military power and has been in power for 28 years till date bought some slight changes in the politics of the country where the establishment of multiparty system was bought back , which allows the citizen the little room for freedom . The economy of chad even after the discovery of oil has remained to be the same only with a slight change in the growth of the GDP by 15%. The subjugation of the region not the hands of the oil companies is pretty much evident and the lack to provide the basic amenities to the population is seen. The ‘oil boom’ has further caused the economy to decline rather then boosting the growth of the economy.
The region is divided into four zones I.e the Saharan north , Sahilian, sudanian, guinean zone. The availability of water below the area and the region further boasts about the rich natural resources available in the region which in return proves it to be a resource curse. Among the rich natural resources made available, oil fields in the Doba region was seen as a source of relief as the hope to better jobs and employment for the region is what was looked forward too. With half of the population being dependent on agriculture and subsistence