A critical assessment of corporate community engagement (CCE) in the Niger Delta.

This thesis makes a new contribution to the field of corporate social responsibility in the area of corporate community engagement (CCE) and public relations in the area of organization-public relationships (OPRs). The thesis focuses on the Nigerian oil and gas industry community relationship in the Niger Delta region. This study provides valuable insights into how CCE works for enhancing stakeholder relationship and other desirable outcomes and thereby contributes to the growing body of knowledge on CSR in public relations. For the practice of CCE, this study reinforces the importance of relationship management as a viable and robust strategy that can bring long-term benefits both to organizations and society in general. A qualitative approach was adopted as it is considered appropriate for the research, which focuses on assessing stakeholders views regarding the relationship between oil and gas company and their host community in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Also, exploring how the stakeholders juxtapose their understanding of the relationship determinants between the oil and gas company and their host community. Semi-structured interviews served as the primary source of data collection from various stakeholders during fieldwork in Nigeria. Secondary methods served a crucial but minor role and were used primarily for the purpose of the researcher as a tool to double check the interview findings. Thirty-five respondents provided their views and opinions concerning the relationship between the oil and gas companies and communities in the region. The study uncovered the importance of culture, social awareness, social identity, corruption, insecurity, mediation and weak institutional structures as crucial predictors of relationship determinants for the oil and gas companies during engagement with their host communities. Moreover, this study explored the research on relationship success determinants key constructs (i.e. control mutuality, trust, commitment and satisfaction) to a qualitative assessment. Also, the developed framework emphasised the need for using these factors for assessing and building a successful long term relationship. Another key finding was that there is a significant difference between how multinational oil companies (MNOCs) and indigenous oil companies (INOCs) engage with the community. This finding suggests that the INOCs have a better approach in the engagement of host communities

Sustainability, corporate community engagement and enterprise development: lessons from a case study in Emu-Ebendo Niger-Delta, Nigeria.

Corporate community engagement remains an under researched area in sustainability debates. Presenting a case study, based on in-depth interviews and site visits, of how one indigenous company Energia Ltd has formed a strong partnership or bond with the Emu-Ebendo community in the oil rich Niger Delta, the dynamics of corporate community engagement are critically discussed. Evidence of how both the company and community has benefited from this relationship is presented. The case analysis concludes that the company has effectively utilised a clearer understanding of the culture of the host community, leading to a transformational relationship. The approach adopted by Energia Ltd in the Emu-Ebendo community is unique in context. The key conclusion reached is that community benefit funds and community enterprise development, as a derivative of corporate engagement, can play a transformational role in societal and economic development

Fostering sustainable development: a corporate social responsibility approach.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the sacrificing of profits in the social interest of the public for sustainable management in an economical, ecological and social manner. It is the use of assets responsibly to create a competitive advantage and promote sustainable development. It is a series of interventions by companies to ameliorate externalized impact or the avoidance of conflicts. This article argues that CSR could be used as a tool for the attainment of sustainable development in the global south. Our aim is that companies should understand the critical role that CSR could play and adopt a corporate strategy that would use CSR to advance and enhance the value of the organization, thereby positively to impact the society

Tackling climate change in Africa through corporate social responsibility.

Africa is the world's most vulnerable region to climate change despite being the least contributor to carbon emissions and global warming. This chapter discusses the challenges climate change poses to African countries, including the adverse effects of ecological variations on agriculture, health, national security, livelihoods, and poverty reduction. Positioning climate change as a business issue, this chapter also delineates how global warming poses challenges for the private sector and critiques the sector's 'business-as-usual' response as problematic, especially in Africa. Consequently, this chapter calls for businesses to move away from an instrumental approach towards an altruistic perspective in the way CSR is conceived and deployed to tackle environmental issues, and draws from four dimensions of corporate citizenship to present climate change as a core CSR issue. In doing so, this chapter explicates and presents suggestions about how corporations' fulfilment of their economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities can help to protect the natural environment, reduce global warming, and support climate change mitigation while also creating conditions that enhance their profitability and competitive advantage

Exploring the potentials, barriers and option for support in the Nigeria renewable energy industry.

Climate change remains a pivotal area and a persistent challenging issue for deliberation among the nations of the world. Most especially in a country like Nigeria, where fossil fuel remains a pivotal source of socio-economic development and well-being of the society. Transforming the Nigeria electricity sector into a source for reducing the country’s carbon emission remains a significant challenge to policymakers, i.e. the Government. This is attributed to the fact that the nation’s primary energy sources come from traditional biomass and fossil fuel such as coal, and natural oil and gas, which has contributed significantly to the level of carbon emissions. In this paper, we explored and identified the potentials, barriers and option for renewable energy in Nigeria. The findings of the review revealed that the Nigerian electricity sector is crucial to reducing the carbon emission generated in the country. Likewise, it is of no doubt that Nigeria is endowed with a different mix of renewable energy sources. Hence, exploring and developing these renewable energy sources will aid the effort of the government in reducing the country’s input to the global carbon emission, instrumental to the socio-economic development of the country and improved well-being of the society at large. Also, policy recommendations to foster renewable energy development were identified