ENERGIA OIL COMPANY AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA, 2009 – 2013
ABSTRACT
The Niger Delta is Nigeria‘s oil and gas belt, as it hosts almost all of Nigeria‘s oil resources. The region has one of the world‘s richest oil deposits. Data from the Federal Republic of Nigeria shows that Niger Delta covers 7.5 per cent of the Nigerian landmass. Niger Delta is so rich in oil that it has produced billions of barrels of crude oil for Nigeria since production began with 4000 barrels in 1958. Given the critical role that big business‘ in general and oil companies in particular play in national economy, the oil sector has increasingly come under the pressure of responding to the challenge of corporate (social) responsibility (CSR). This trend is set against a background in which the industry is already under considerable pressures arising from intensified violent conflicts and environmental degradations. Energia/Oando JV which was awarded OML 56 by the Federal Government in 2003 and is one of the largest operating indigenous oil firms in the Niger Delta. The Energia oil and gas industry operates in six (6) communities (Emu-Ebendo, Obodugwa-Ogume, Umusadege, Isumpe, Umusam and Ogbeani) of Delta state, Nigeria. The general objective of the study was to examine the efforts of Oil Companies on corporate social responsibility in the Delta state of Nigeria, with Energia Limited as case study. The main specific objectives were to: (i) identify and explain the increasing environmental degradations of host communities that lead to increased Corporate Social Responsibility among oil companies in Delta state; (ii) investigate the relationships that rexist between the major projects that form the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts of Energia Limited and the needs of the host communities in Delta state; and (iii) examine the level of the host communities’ participation in the Corporate Social Responsibility Projects of Energia Limited in Delta state. The study was a sample survey with oral and focus group discussion as the survey instrument. Field research involved in-depth personal (oral) interviews with staff of Energia, community leaders, indigenous entrepreneurs, and youth leaders. For the analysis of data, we will rely on qualitative descriptive statistics and logical arguments and inferences. Our conclusions proposed that in spite of good consciousness and goals, the CSR method of oil firms in Delta state remains unprofessional and imprecise. On economic domain, Energia Oil Company Nigeria Limited’s claim of execution of projects as part of her business communal obligation is indisputable, but the results indicated the requirement for Energia Nigeria Limited to embark on a policy re-evaluation of her communal change programmes in the oil communities to make sure that there is always a significant relationship between the needs of the citizens and communities and what the company provides as its CSR program. It may perhaps be essential, as well, for Energia to embrace a bottom-up attitude in its public improvement initiatives. This will ensures appropriate exploration of all pertinent requirements of the public, create home-grown aptitude, improve self-assurance, construct societal investment and encourage development of the indigenous economy, and decrease communal agitation. Finally, oil and gas companies operating in Delta state should be compelled to comply with international best practices to ensure the protection of natural habitats through uncompromising implementation of the demands of the doctrine of corporate social responsibility.