Relationship dossier
The Gambia
Nigeria
Relationship assessment
Regional cooperation was prominent during the 2017 transition of power in The Gambia.
The Gambia toward Nigeria
+25The Gambian government accepted the ECOWAS deployment in 2017, which included Nigerian participation and helped secure the transfer of power from Yahya Jammeh.
Nigeria toward The Gambia
+35Nigeria contributed personnel and other support to the 2017 ECOWAS operation in The Gambia, which helped secure the transfer of power from Yahya Jammeh.
Overall relationship
+30A notable feature of the relationship is cooperation during the 2017 constitutional crisis in The Gambia: the Gambian government accepted the ECOWAS deployment, and Nigeria contributed to the regional operation. The scope of other bilateral cooperation is less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Gambia and Nigeria have cooperated through regional efforts to uphold constitutional government. In 2017, The Gambia accepted the ECOWAS deployment that helped secure the transfer of power from Yahya Jammeh, while Nigeria contributed personnel and other support to the operation. These actions indicate practical cooperation, though the breadth of bilateral arrangements beyond this episode is unclear.
Key developments
The Gambia accepted the ECOWAS deployment during the constitutional crisis, and Nigeria contributed personnel and other support to the operation.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral agreements beyond regional security cooperation are unclear.
- The extent of continuing direct cooperation between the two governments is uncertain.