This reliance on the international market to power such an oil-rich country is not only accelerating desertification but contributing to another problem too. When the country first struck oil in 1956, it was a British colony, and rather than refining the crude where it was extracted вЂ“ adding commercial value and creating good jobs in the process вЂ“ British companies shipped it to the UK, building an enormous refinery in Wales. The fact that Nigeria вЂ“ the worldвЂ™s eleventh largest oil producer вЂ“ spends billions of dollars a year importing petrol and gas is a painful relic of imperialism. Nigeria exports crude oil, we donвЂ™t even process it here, we have to export it and re-import it.вЂќ The very fact that Nigerians are subjected to these bends and bumps of the international gas market infuriates Umar: вЂњI donвЂ™t think the government is addressing the problem sufficiently. And, like ash follows fire, desertification follows deforestation. Millions of Nigerians returning to wood as their source of cooking fuel means that more trees are being cut down. This semi-arid Savannah land is rapidly being swallowed up by the Sahara desert вЂ“ at a rate of 0.6 kilometres a year, he estimates.

UmarвЂ™s home region, in the north of Nigeria, sits within the Sahel. If enough of us speak up, we'll be able to protect honesty in public life.

Empire total war countries