"3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION‘’We at Chevron Nigeria believe that business investments are the bedrock of corporateresponsibility. We do not only produce reliable and affordable energy to enable economies,but also, in doing so we advance the communities in which we operate by purchasing localgoods and services, creating jobs, and generating revenue’’. – Chevron’s CEO, John S.Watson (Chevron’s CSR Report, 2015).It is now a general knowledge that the extractive activities of oil industries potentially havenegative socio-economic and environmental effects.Adoption of tools that stick to soundenvironmental management systems and standards are taking into scrutiny the ecology of thearea and the social and environmental patterns of the host communities reduces, if not totallyavoids these impacts (World Bank,1998).This is the main concept of CSR that places the burdens on corporate organisations to achievethis goal. Surprisingly, corporate organisations have accepted this role, declaring a totalcommitment to CSR, and making their corporate performance in this aspect a key feature ofcorporate annual reports, websites, and other public relations documents (Chevron, 2005).The main question is how well are these policies implemented and executed in developingnations like Nigeria? This becomes a relevant question in light of many examples of seriousdegradation of environment and socioeconomic issues in some of the major oil richcommunities, for example, the Niger Delta region in Nigeria.Another question is the relationship between the role of the governments and corporate socialresponsibility that includes their responsibility to ensure that corporate organisations operateresponsibly. This research explores these issues, using the practice of Chevron and thegovernment in the Niger Delta as a case study.The choice of Chevron and the Niger Delta as a good case study is based on several factorswhich include reactive nature of the environment that the oil industry operates, accurate publicised effects of its CSR activities, and a common time when corporate organisationsmake claims to adhering strictly to CSR can be identified and actions later appraised. 3.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDYRecently, there has being constant call for oil MNCs operating in the Niger Delta region toact environmentally and socially responsible from a range of stakeholders such asgovernment, communities and shareholders (Eweje, 2011). Hence business have a majorresponsibility in the role of addressing social issues in the Niger Delta.As noted by Ite (2004) Nigeria?s key practitioners of CSR are the business organisations andoil and gas MNCs. CSR is still at the stage of developing in Nigeria, as a result of thediminished government capacity, lack of viable institutional machineries and unstableeconomy (Adegbite and Nakajima, 2011; Amaeshi et al., 2006).Majority of the oil MNCs that operate in the Niger Delta region sees CSR as a voluntarymanagement decision in giving back to the society by carrying out philanthropic gestures tothe communities in which they operate (Eweje, 2006). While the host communities are of thebelieve that the CSR adopted by MNCs are payments for the negative externalities resultingfrom their operational activities. As their operations in the Niger Delta have resulted in abreach of CSR such as gas flaring, dumping of toxic waste materials, oil spillages, andpollution and community tensions.These operations have affected their sources of livelihoods, farming and fishing, causingpoverty and agitation from the inhabitants. Despite, the operations of the private sectororganisations in the region, successive governments has failed to meet up to their obligationsby providing infrastructural amenities for the Niger Delta communities therefore making thecommunities to rely solely on the private organisations to address their social andenvironmental issues (Osemeke et al., 2016; Adegbite and Nakajima, 2011). Hackett (2014) cited that CSR benefits both the corporation and the community in which theyoperate by contributing to the social and economic development. An organisation is thereforeresponsible for its own CSR policies and for making sure that these are implemented andenforced.Nigeria?s CSR initiatives are more of discretionary and philanthropic in nature throughcharities, community developments and donations. Most of the private sector organisationsdo not take CSR seriously, whereas some have CSR departments, publications, CSR reportsin addition to their annually reports (Amaeshi et al., 2015).Private sector organisations in the oil and gas industry such as Chevron, Total, Shell andExxon-Mobil CSR initiatives cover education, health, water supply, housing, agriculture,skill acquisition etc.Today, due to the under development and lack of infrastructural amenities in the Niger Deltaand the failure of the government to negotiate with the inhabitants about their needs anddevelopment in the region, the youths have formed different militancy groups such as theNiger Delta Avengers (NDA) and Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta(MEND) thereby targeting the government and oil industry, vandalizing pipelines, facilitiesand disrupting operations in the region. Instead of the government to negotiate with theinhabitants of the region to know their problems and devise solutions, they equip and deployjoint task force to combat the militant movement and this have heightened the problems(Afinotan and Ojakorotu, 2009).This research will be focused on Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) which is the third biggestproducer of oil in the country and among the major investors in the country. The companyhas interests in nine deep water blocks offshore in the country; it operates three of theseblocks, the Agbami field is among its interest in Nigeria. This field lies 113km off the centralNiger Delta region. Its operations span within five states touching different ethnic groups which includes over 420 communities. The company holds and operates a 40% interest andits operation is under a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) that holds a 60% interest. It has as its way values to be committed responsible andethical behaviour.3.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. Is CSR practices effective in developing nations?2. What CSR activities should be adopted by oil and gas companies in Niger Delta toaddress social issues?3. Will the people of the communities in Niger Delta appreciate the CSR activities of oiland gas companies?4. What are the CSR activities of Chevron Nigeria Limited?5. Do oil and gas companies profit from CSR activities?3.3 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVESTo investigate the relationship between the social responsibility of the federal government ofNigeria and CSR. Owing from the research aim above, the following objectives are thusrelating to the oil and gas industry:1. To evaluate the level of adoption in use of CSR practices by private sectororganisations2. To evaluate the nature and type of assistance given by private sector organisations andgovernment in addressing social issues3. To determine the impact of private organisation?s CSR practices in addressing socialissues in the Niger DeltaFigure 1 Aim and Objectives of the ResearchAimTo investigate the relationship between the socialresponsibility of the Nigerian government andCSR "