Responsiveness of Oil and Gas Companies to Developmental Needs of Oil Communities: A Case of the People of Ellembele District

Abstract

Contemporary demands due to the end of the cold war, globalisation, revolution in information technology and the bifurcation of world politics have all dictated the re-examination of corporate-community relationship and instigated a movement towards corporate social responsibility practices. Therefore, the study sought to investigate responsiveness of oil corporations to development needs of host communities. The objective of the study was to: investigate how the Ellembelle District Assembly comes up with developmental needs of the people, determine how the Ellembelle District Assembly communicates their developmental needs to development partners, examine how oil and gas companies come up with their development programmes for host community, find out the level of responsiveness of oil companies to development needs of host communities and to possibly develop a communication strategy to assist both district assemblies and oil and gas companies in development partnership. The empirical data was generated from Eikwe and Sanzule communities in Ellembelle District using a systematic random sampling technique. The findings revealed that although participatory approaches are used in identifying development needs of the communities, it appears to be a bottom-up approach heavily influenced by a top-down approach.