By Douglas Blessing
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Rivers State Chapter, has solicited for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that will benefit the Niger Delta communities hosting producing companies.
The institute insisted that with a good CSR, it will promote a shared prosperity for both the companies and the communities where they operate.
Chairman of NIPR in Rivers State, Mr Paulinus Nsirim, made the call yesterday, in Port Harcourt, at a Memorial Gold Paper Lecture in honour of late Sir O. B Fubara and annual general meeting of the Institute.
Speaking at the event, Nsirim who was the immediate past Commissioner of Information in Rivers State, noted that CSR has become a topical issue in the region, stressing that the divide and rule attitude by companies have promoted the number of crisis experienced in Niger Delta.
Nsirim noted that the programme was put together to celebrate and immortalise late Fubara, whom he described as a public relations icon with regards to his contributions to PR in the country while alive.
“There has been a nagging issue of corporate social responsibilities, if the companies are really doing enough for Niger Delta communities where they operate and ofcourse, if you live in the Niger Delta you will understand that we don’t get social responsibility as commensurate with the kind of oil exploration that’s taking place here.
“Corporate social responsibility in some communities has led to community crisis because the organisations employs divide and rule tactics. They don’t do major stakeholders engagements because if you don’t have major stakeholder engagements to involve the communities in producing a CSR programme and policy then it will fail.
“What we are advocating with this lecture is that the communities and organisations need to collaborate to workout corporate social responsibilities that would benefit the communities maximally in order to promote a shared prosperity of both the companies and communities where they operate”, he added.
In his paper presentation titled “
Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Relations: The Niger Delta Experience”, Dr Biriowu advised that companies should use CRS as a public relations tool to launder their image in their area of operation in order to gain the acceptance of the stakeholders.
He stated that the failure of companies operating in the Niger Delta to pay attention to CRS has made communities to engage in attacks on installations, strikes, protests, piracy etc to force them to take up their responsibilities.
To engender cordial community and company relations in the Niger Delta region, Biriowu said “There should be remediation of the environment where pollution have occurred like in Ogoniland, empowerment scheme for the people, certain jobs should be reserved for indigenes, infrastructural development schemes, good ethical practices, graduate trainee schemes and contracts awarded to communities”.
