Neena Gill, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, like many other countries in Africa, Nigeria is a prime example of a country that should be rich but in reality is poor. It is Africa’s largest oil producer, yet more than half of Nigerian people live on less than two dollars a day. The demographic explosion means scarce resources come under pressure and fuel conflict. This is not some faraway doom scenario. Last year hundreds of shepherds were killed or disappeared in violent clashes. Meanwhile, the impact of terror committed by Boko Haram continues to be felt.

The EU as a whole, and the UK in particular, have particular interests at stake in the country, whether it is managing migration flows or sealing lucrative business deals after Brexit, but these agendas will not get anywhere unless underlying problems in Nigeria are addressed: corruption, inequality and inter-ethnic tension. So my question to the Commissioner is the following: what measures are we taking, as part of our aid to Nigeria, to help tackle these root causes? Do you agree that close cooperation and coordination with the UK after Brexit are necessary in order to make sure we are not going on different strands?