Abstract:
This study examines the historical and contemporary significance of the River Niger as a central political and economic artery in West Africa. It aims to demonstrate that the River Niger has functioned not merely as a physical geographical feature but as a dynamic force shaping state formation, trade networks, governance structures, and regional cooperation from the precolonial era to the present. By situating the river at the core of West African political economy, the study highlights its enduring strategic importance across changing historical contexts. The research adopts a qualitative historical methodology, drawing on both primary and secondary sources. Archival documents, historical texts, and firsthand accounts are complemented by oral traditions and interviews with historians and custodians of indigenous knowledge. This multidisciplinary approach enables a reconstruction of riverine trade systems, political authority, and patterns of social interaction within the Niger Basin prior to 1900, while also tracing their transformation under colonial and post-colonial administrations. The findings reveal that control over the River Niger was closely linked to political power and economic prosperity. Precolonial empires such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai leveraged riverine trade routes to consolidate authority and expand regional influence. During colonial rule, the river became a conduit for economic extraction and imperial consolidation, while in the post-colonial era it remains central to agriculture, energy production, and regional integration efforts. The study concludes that the River Niger represents a thread of continuity in West African history, underscoring the inseparable relationship between natural landscapes and human agency in shaping political and economic development
Keywords: River Niger; State Formation; Trade; West Africa; River Basin
DOI: 10.36349/sokotojh.2026.v14i01.006
