The sudden death of President Idris Deby Itno of Chad is bad news for Nigeria. For many years, he has been our stanch ally in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group. On many occasions, he had joined his troops in battle against various rebel groups. Chadian military announced on Monday that Debby died in battle against Chadian rebels of the Front for Change and Concord who had been fighting for years to topple his perennial presidency. After more than 30 years in power, Deby finally ended his journey the way he came. He will be buried tomorrow. x So far, Chad cannot be described as a lucky country. When Deby shot his way to power in 1990, the ruler of Nigeria then was General Ibrahim Babangida. Since then, Chief Ernest Adegunle Shonekan, General Sani Abacha, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and now General Muhammadu Buhari have occupied the Nigerian presidency. But in Chad only one lonely star has been in the sky. He was barely 38 when he became President of Chad in 1990. He was 68 when he won his fifth term in office last week. He did not live long enough to be sworn in for his new term. The rebel forces ensured that.