ABSTRACT
In comprehending the challenge that this study sets out to come in terms with, is a fore- knowledge of the region regarded as the Gulf of Guinea is considered useful. There are diverse opinions about the exact composition of the Gulf of Guinea. According to Merz and Yates, the geo-political entity known as “the Gulf of Guinea consists of the seven countries along the South Atlantic Ocean, namely Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Angola and Congo.” Given this opinion about the geographical sphere of the region, the Gulf of Guinea can be said to have straddle countries within three sub- regions of Africa –West Africa (Nigeria), Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe) and Southern Africa (Angola). Within this stretch, there are smaller oil producing countries namely Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, the Islands of Sao Tome and Principe, and Congo Brazzaville in Central Africa. Damian Mane conceives the region in a broader perspective; thus, he insists that the region is made up of “a large number of countries from West and Central Africa: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR) Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra-Leone, and Togo.