Dying Sahara

In 1991 I did a school project on the Sahel (the edge of the Sahara) which at the time was being deforested. Thanks to an information packet from Save The Children, I learned about a Taureg who was trying to learn modern ways in order to save his tribe. He may not have had any education, but he had foresight; he knew the grazing lands were disappearing, and their goats were there main source of wealth. The man’s name was El Mahloud, and I often wonder what became of him.

Since 2007, the Niger government has been killing the Toureg, who at the time were mostly unarmed. Starting in the 1990’s, Algeria’s Baath regime was fighting Islamist rebels in the south, and after that ended, there was a population explosion, grazing lands became scarce, and you had conflict. One important thing to remember about African conflict is that the borders never took into account the tribes that lived within them. When the nomadic peoples were stopped from crossing the borders, they ended up in conflict over where to graze their animals. At first, nobody cared. Then the mining companies found minerals in the desert, and that brought them into conflict with the people living there. Finally, the Al-Queda started courting the Toureg, and all hell broke loose.

The Sahara might never have become a divisive area if nobody were drilling for oil. But with oil prices rising, any place with oil looks attractive, and no corrupt government will refuse mining and drilling rights. In a country like Niger, all that the oil company has to do is say “get rid of those local tribes for me”, and the army will happily oblige. They’ll use soldiers from a different tribe, so nobody will feel guilty. But the Toureg know the terrain better than others, so they’re able to make quick raids. With Al-Queda supplying them with firearms and vehicles, their efforts can multiply.

Dying Sahara doesn’t say it outright, but a lot of the blame falls on the army. In Africa (as in most of the developing nations) the officers are pampered playboys, and the soldiers are underpaid peasants. Everyone’s making money through bribes or looting, and the soldiers aren’t motivated to meet the enemy head-on. Niger’s army has one officer who went to a US military school, but that’s it. Against Al-Queda backed rebels, Niger’s army probably has little hope.