Abstract

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Community Development Programme (CDP) has gained new focus and remarkable prominence since the 1980s. What is noteworthy is that it has moved beyond local or national arenas and become the subject of global attention. In the context of developing countries, it has become part of broader debates on development and poverty reduction, particularly in relation to the absence of governance in many areas. The issue has been particularly contested when it comes to the behaviour of oil and gas extracting multinational corporations. The Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC), other MNCs and their operations in the Niger Delta have been at the center of attention. The environmental degradation, continuing violence and continued poverty of communities in the Delta have been increasingly scrutinized in relation to SPDC’s and other MNCs activities in the area.