Community Development Projects or Environmental Protection

E-ISSN： 2325-1085|8|2|49-68

ISSN： 2325-1077

Source： The International Journal of Environmental Sustainability, Vol.8, Iss.2, 2013-01, pp. : 49-68

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Nigeria produces about 2.7 million barrels of crude oil per day which makes it the largest crude oil producer in Africa. This natural resource, which accounts for over 80% of the country’s revenue, is solely produced in the Niger Delta region. The UNDP (2006) in its Niger Delta Human Development Report described the region as suffering from “administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth, squalor and endemic conflict.” Determined to build a better relationship aimed at creating an enabling environment for business, the Nigerian government and oil multinational corporations embarked on a number of community development projects. Laudable as these projects appear to be, the oil producing host communities are largely unimpressed. Why is it that a lot appears to be done in terms of community development projects in the Niger Delta and yet agitations, militarism and political unrest continue to be the order of the day? There are currently great agitations for the former to address poverty and improve lives disrupted by environmental degradation; and the latter as a result of sustained environmental degradation spanning over five decades of oil discovery. The dilemma before multinational oil corporations and the Nigerian government therefore is which way to go. This paper therefore critically examines the preference of host communities for community development projects and environmental protection. 750 questionnaires were administered to heads of households in four host communities in the Niger Delta while 630 (84%) were successfully retrieved in addition to interviews and focus group sessions. The findings suggested that the current system does not enjoy the people’s support. The host communities therefore advocated a need for appropriate strategies to be put in place to protect the environment in addition to provision of social amenities and other community development initiatives.