TRANSBOUNDARY WATER GOVERNANCE AND REGIONAL SECURITY IN WEST AFRICA: THE CASE OF NIGERIA, GHANA, AND NIGER REPUBLIC

Abstract

In West Africa, where numerous river basins cross national borders and support the livelihoods of millions of people, water is both a vital resource and a potential source of conflict. This study focuses on the Niger, Volta, and Lake Chad river basins that Nigeria, Ghana, and the Niger Republic share to examine the dynamics of transboundary water governance and regional security in West Africa. The paper investigates how governance systems, hydro-politics, and resource inequalities influence cooperation or contention among riparian states using secondary data from academic publications, institutional reports, and international frameworks. Using a theoretical framework of political ecology and collective action, the analysis highlights the interplay between environmental pressures, power dynamics, and governance processes in the management of water resources. The results show that although regional organizations such as ECOWAS, the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) have created frameworks for integrated water resource management, collective security and sustainable governance are compromised by implementation gaps, inadequate institutional capacity, and conflicting national interests. The study concluded that transboundary water governance is a crucial area for environmental sustainability, peacebuilding, and regional integration in West Africa. For long-term regional water security, it is advised to strengthen collaborative management institutions, encourage fair benefit-sharing, and improve adaptive governance capabilities.