DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2017.v05i06.008

Pages: 575-582

The economic and strategic importance of the Gulf of Guinea which is currently the source of around 5.4 million barrels of oil per day and several other natural resources, which is unfortunately located within institutionally and politically weak West African sub-region made it vulnerable to external interference and spread of different forms of insurgence activities. Thus, the continued importance of oil in the global market necessitate the focus of this paper to examine whether the presence of the United States military in the Gulf of Guinea actually posed any serious threat to security, economic and political interests of the West African sub-region which dominated the Gulf of Guinea. Similarly, it is instructive to investigate what are the core motives and expected benefits of the United States in protecting, ensuring political stability and waging war against terrorists in Gulf of Guinea? This paper argues that the continuing US military presence in the Gulf contributed to inability of most governments within the Gulf of Guinea to maintain control over the coastal waters and on access and security along the coast itself due to their over- reliance on US for defence and military assistance. Consequently, the inability of the majority of West African sub-region governments to guide and secure the coastline within the Gulf of Guinea has also encouraged the spread of terrorism and other forms of insurgency groups which has continued to pose a serious threat to oil production and other water resources.