Towards a Maritime Security Governance Framework in the Gulf of Guinea

The significance of the ocean in terms of its economic potential is well established, however, it is plagued with many threats and challenges which call for a proper examination of its management and governance. This paper examines the legal and institutional frameworks at the global, regional, sub-regional, and national levels for governance of the oceans and its resources in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). It further reviews the existing cooperative arrangements in the GoG using regime theory of international relations. Findings show that though, several arrangements exist at the international and regional levels with binding and enforceable provisions which are applicable in the GoG, their implementation and enforcement is lacking in the GoG. On the other hand, sub regional arrangements lack clearly defined binding character leading to uneven implementation at the national level. The paper makes a case and recommends that perhaps the national and sub regional arrangements constitute a developing regime cluster and ought to be evaluated in that frame.