Institutional Framework for Combating Drug Trafficking in West Africa : A Comparative Study of Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry and Nigeria

This study discussed the institutional framework for combating drug trafficking in the West Africa sub-region with particular focus on Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry and Nigeria. The framework ranges from the international, through regional, sub-regional to national levels. This study employed a desk-review research approach with the reports and evaluations obtained from secondary sources of data analyzed through content analysis. The study found that the implementation or domestication processes involving the policies, instruments and programs within the domain at the national level remain either slow or ineffective in majority of the cases reviewed. Comparatively, the impact of institutional policy measures for combating drug trafficking were however found to have been felt more in Nigeria compared to Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry. The study recommended that Heads of Government should adopt a procedural approach towards domesticating counter-narcotic drug policies, instruments and programs which should consider local realities, most especially in the resilience communities along the trafficking routes in order to ensure that policy measures are functional, effective and efficient across the selected states. Compliance to policy measures taken should also be monitored through periodic assessment procedures adhered to by member states of ECOWAS. National legislation on drug laws should also align with international convention while ensuring that the rule of law is followed