Two scarcely noticed events occurred in Nigeria and Botswana at the end of last week that signal the growing speed and strength of a new "scramble for Africa" among the world's big powers, who are tapping into the continent for its oil, iron ore, timber, gold, diamonds and other natural resources. At Nigeria's Defence Intelligence School in Karu, near the capital Abuja, 30 military officers from seven African countries graduated from a training course designed to meet the "rapidly changing security complexities" of their nations "and the continent at large".