Corporate social responsibility patterns and conflicts in Nigeria’s oil-rich region

Abstract

Corporate–community relations in the Niger Delta region are, almost without exception, framed in the context of conflict, borne out of dysfunctional or misguided corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices by oil transnationals. Based on a comparative study of the CSR policies and practices of Shell, Total and Agip in six oil-bearing communities in Rivers State, a core oil-bearing state in the Niger Delta, this paper contests this orthodoxy, pointing out significant variations in the intensity and scale of conflicts between host communities and different oil transnational corportions (TNCs) in the region. The key question explored in the study is: to what extent is the variation in CSR policy and practices implicated in variation in the intensity and scale of conflicts between host communities and oil TNCs in the Niger Delta? We conclude that the intensity and scale of conflict in corporate–community relations in the Niger Delta region are a function of the CSR pattern of the operating oil TNC. The implications of this for CSR policy and practice are explored.

Multinational Oil Firms' CSR Initiatives in Nigeria: The Need of Rural Farmers in Host Communities

“…Quite a number of other studies have also analysed the CSR concept and initiatives of MNCs, long‐term effect and beneficiaries in the oil producing communities. They include: Lompo and Trani (), Renourd and Lado (), Idemudia (), Eweje (), Ite (), Idemudia (), Eweje (), Aaron and Patrick (), Aaron (), Kuhn et al (), Alibi and Ntukepo (), Ndu and Agbonifoh (), Ogutade and Mafimisebi (), Ite (), Ite (), Idemudia (), Idemudia (), Ite (), Idemudia et al (), Idemudia (), etc. However, the extant literature lacks an approach of agricultural development in Nigeria's Niger Delta from the CSR perspective.…”

(In)Effective Business Responsibility Engagements in Areas of Limited Statehood: Nigeria’s Oil Sector as a Case Study

“…Corroborating this perception, studies-including Aaron and Patrick (2013); Dinkpa (2016); and Ogula (2012)-disclose a number of flaws intrinsic to the CSR projects of corporations in the Niger Delta. In the first instance, by relying on the restricted goal of providing just the moral minimum, corporations precluded themselves from inventing practical measures for the execution of effective CSR projects.…”

Theorizing Business and Local Peacebuilding Through the “Footprints of Peace” Coffee Project in Rural Colombia

“…Third, cooperations between businesses and international development agencies can succeed under certain conditions. FOP showed the importance of making community–business relationships a partnership among equals (Aaron & Patrick, 2013; International Alert, 2015). However, FOP was unlikely to have existed without foreign funding.…”