Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Traditional Livelihoods in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Business organizations are creations of society whose survival depends on the very society of which they are a part. Businesses need to respond to changing societal expectations by increasingly redefining and modifying their involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR). The Nigerian economy depends on oil; approximately 90 percent of its earnings and 80 percent of federal revenue is derived from oil. This places the multinational oil companies at the forefront of business and makes them a focal point for the economic well-being of the nation as well as the welfare of the Nigerian society. Petroleum exploration and exploitation in the Niger delta region in recent decades has had major impacts on the oil producing communities. This paper considers one multi-national oil company and the impact of its operations on the traditional livelihoods of local communities and populations in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Drawing on empirical data obtained through twenty-four in-depth face-to-face interviews and critical analysis, this paper argues that the failure to seek, understand and integrate community needs into CSR policies and practices results in the absence of an enabling environment for the firms’ operation. The paper concludes that unless these gaps are addressed, by reducing the negative impact and replacing the livelihoods of the people through effective CSR activities, the Nigerian oil industry is likely to continue to fail in the attainment of its full potential. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Livelihoods, Oil exploration, Host communities, Multinational oil companies, Stakeholder, Niger Delta

THE EFFECT OF JOB TENURE ON EMPLOYEE/CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP IN THE NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRY

Despite the fact that the banking industry is unrivalled in the development of any economy because it marshals funds from the surplus spending unit of the economy and makes the same available to the deficit units for the attainment of the economy's development goals, it is observed that the banking staff, who are agents or bedrock for the fulfilment of this goal, appears to be found lamenting over poor service delivery to her customers. The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of job tenure on employee/customer relationship in Nigerian banking industry. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The sample size was 333 employees selected from commercial banks in the study area through stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Results of the analysis using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test statistical techniques shows that, there is a positive significant influence of job tenure on employee/customer relationship in Nigerian banking industry. That is, there is a significant influence of organizational demography in terms of job tenure on performance in terms of employee/customer relationship in Nigeria banking industry. Based on the findings, the study recommended that, banks should encourage employees to stay on the job through motivation and incentives. This will enable them have relevant experience on the job and hence contribute to the growth and the achievement of the overall objectives of the banking sector. To this end, human resource administrators ought to be worried about characteristics and foundation of staff that best suit work position