Corporate social responsibility in Nigeria's petroleum industry 25 years after the Ogoni crisis : case study: Shell Nigeria

Abstract

The rise in the amount of environmental degradation due to oil and gas exploration activities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been a major concern. It has culminated in several conflicts. Notably, the famous Ogoni-Shell crisis in the Ogoni land in 1993-94 played a vital role in directing the path for corporate social responsibility policies formulation in Shell Nigeria. With the CSR policies presently in its 25 years since formulation, the pressure from the stakeholders has led to improved sense of responsibility of Shell Nigeria. This study centres on the examination of the CSR programmes in Shell Nigeria, their impact and performance of the firm’s CSR policies in Nigeria after the Ogoni-Shell crisis of 25 years ago. The master’s thesis studies the impacts of CSR policies and explore the relationship between CSR and MNCs in developing countries adopting two main theories, stakeholder theory and value creation theory. The research utilises a qualitative method to carry out a case study research design aimed at interviewing representatives from the company and key informants in the Niger Delta region with a specific focus on the Shell LiveWIRE and the educational scholarship programmes. The results of the study revealed that lack of enabling environment, corruption and weak institutions are major challenges to CSR in developing countries. It also noted that Shell Nigeria’s CSR policies has shifted from the charitable or philanthropic gestures to addressing the real development concerns of the host communities overtime, though, the impact has been insignificant.