Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Environmental Conservation and Development in Nigeria's Niger Delta: A Case Study of Shell

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of business all over the world. It is part of 'business ethic' to implement one CSR programme or the other. The issue of CSR has taken central stage in the business cycle as the whole world now grabbles with the issue of ozone depletion leading to global warming and climate change. This brings environmental-friendly and related CSR to the fore 'which is key to achieving national development. While the protection of the environment becomes paramount in production activities of companies the world over, reverse is the case in Nigeria as exemplified in activities of oil companies in the Niger Delta. Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) especially allows oil spills into the environment without taking the necessary precautions and does not do the clean-up of these spills in time. This study, therefore, examined the impact of CSR on conservation of environment and national development using the incidents of oil spillage in the Niger Delta using SPDC as a case study. The authors adopted secondary source of data collection as methodology. Through this method, explanatory and deductive analysis was made. The findings in this study showed that SPDC was not environmentally responsible. Oil exploration activities had caused an untold environmental damage to the Niger Delta, its people and their means of livelihood leading to high level of poverty among the people and indirectly affecting Nigeria’s national development. In the whole issue, the Nigerian Government and its agencies could not be exonerated. Therefore, it was recommended that Government should adopt the US Government's strategy on how to make oil companies environmentally responsible. This -would not only help in quick cleaning-up of oil spills but also lead to giving befitting compensation to victims of oil spillage in the Niger Delta and help quicken development in Nigeria.