West Africa is drained by three distinct rivers namely.
(1) The long rivers.
(2) The short rivers.
(3) The inland drainage rivers.
The Long Rivers flow through many countries before emptying their water into the sea. Such rivers include River Niger Volta, Senegal etc.
The Short Rivers are slow flowing rivers, short in nature and empty their water into the sea e.g. River Sewa, Ogun River, River Tano etc.
Inland Drainage Rivers flow straight into Lake Chad with no visible outlet to the sea. Such rivers include Hadeija, Yobe (in Nigeria), Logone, and Yedeseram etc. These rivers are known as inland drainage and they flow straight to Lake Chad.