Management of Transboundary Water Pollution in the Lake Chad Basin: Nigeria’s Environmental Engineering Obligations

This study examines Nigeria's environmental engineering obligations and institutional management responsibilities in addressing transboundary water pollution in the Lake Chad Basin, with particular focus on the contributions of Yobe and Borno State catchment activities to cross-border water quality deterioration. Lake Chad is a transboundary water body shared by Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, and its contraction due to reduced inflows combined with increasing pollution from Nigerian catchment agricultural chemicals, municipal waste discharges, and domestic water treatment deficiencies has environmental and diplomatic significance. The study draws on a review of Lake Chad Basin Commission monitoring reports, Nigerian National Water Resources Management Authority documentation, academic water quality literature, and semi-structured interviews with fifteen water resource management officials in Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa States. Environmental engineering interventions required under the Lake Chad Basin Commission's Water Charter and Nigeria's National Water Policy are mapped and assessed for implementation status. Results reveal that Nigeria's implementation of agreed transboundary water quality management obligations is substantially incomplete, with several planned wastewater treatment facilities in basin cities not constructed and agricultural runoff management programmes underfunded. Institutional coordination between NESREA, the river basin development authorities, and state environmental agencies is fragmented. The study identifies a significant gap between Nigeria's formal legal commitments and its actual implementation capacity. Recommendations include a dedicated Lake Chad Basin environmental engineering investment programme coordinated at federal level. Keywords: transboundary water pollution, Lake Chad, basin management, Nigeria, water quality.