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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The Niger Delta regions of Nigeria have in recent years become a hot-bed of explosive crisis and conflicts that often leave some deaths and mindless destructions in their wake, all resulting mainly from sour relationship between the oil producing companies operating in the areas and their aggrieved host communities.
In fact, according to the public relations manager of Shell Petroleum, N.T. Enyia (2000:50), “oil Companies” host communities have at sundry times perpetrated anarchy against them, which range from vandalization of oil industry facilities, attack on personnel, hostage taking of oil workers, sabotage activities and destruction of lives and property, resulting from pent-up aggressions and restiveness that could have been doused by a systematic development strategy”.
On their own part, indigenes of these oil companies’ host communities have always had a plethora of accusations against the oil companies which range from:
v A mindless exploitation and carting away of their god-given resources, which accounts for about 90% of the nations revenue, while the area remains the most backward, under-developed region of the country, with abject poverty as a constant identity of her people (Ledum Mitee, 2001). A heartless degradation of their agricultural lands, and destruction of their aquatic life, biodiversity and ecosystem, thereby totally denying them of their traditional occupations of fisheries and farming, which further reduces them to a life of suffering, penury and indigence (Saro-Wiwa, 1996:5).
v Exposure to inimical health hazards, resulting from environmental pollution through the release of harmful chemical substances into the atmosphere.
This also come in forms of gas flaring, air pollution, water pollution and noise pollutions.
v They also accuse the oil companies of not usually doing enough to mitigate the effects of oil spillage, burst pipes and other accidents when they occur, nor adequately compensate the victims of such accidents.
Summarizing all these, the then chairman of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey (NDES), Gamaliel O. Onosode (1996:24) once wrote that “the exploration and production of oil have greatly impacted on the Niger-Delta both socioeconomically and ecologically”. “Public attention”, Onosode (1996:25) added, “has focused on the appropriation of oil from the region because this resource which account for the bulk of the national budget has made only marginal impact on the quality of life of ordinary community members, poverty and social dislocation, quite apart from environmental degradation, are facts of life and appear to be sources of conflicts between the oil companies and many communities in the area”. Onosode, you could say, seems to have not only called a spade on spade here, but also spoken the minds of the entire Niger Deltans.
It is this wave of mentality that manifests itself into violent agitations, environmental activism, and advocacy, protects and in extreme cases wanton destruction of lives, properties, equipment, oil facilities and pipelines belonging to the oil companies from their host community members especially the youths.
In fact, this problem was heightened and even internationalized by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, the then leader of the movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), who propounded what he termed “the Ogoni Bill of Rights” in which he claimed about $25 trillion as reparation from the Federal Government and the Oil Companies, not only for committing the “unforgivable sin” of mining oil from Ogoni-land, but for also destroying their agricultural lands and aquatic culture (Newswatch, March 5, 1996).
Meanwhile, Ken Saro-Wiwa succeeded not only in winning the ears and sympathy of the international community, including world leaders and the United Nation, but also in marketing what the Federal Government saw as a “Weird and bizarre” idea to Niger-Deltan Youths, especially in Ogoniland. These youths, we were told, were sold the line by Saro-Wiwa that if he gets the S25 trillion reparation, every man, woman, youth, children and even babies in Ogoni would receive at least $5 million or about N600 million, which would transform them automatically to instant millionaires and banish poverty forever from their lives. With this, the youths lent total unalloyed support and invested all their energies to the Ken SaroWiwa project and were prepared to move down anyone who opposes this “Messiah” that has come to save them from the economic subjugations and exploitations of the oil Companies and the Federal Government, hence, the killing of “the Ogoni 5, ”whom the Youths passed death penalties on their heads, for either harbouring or being perceived to harbour contrary views to that of Ken Sasro-Wiwa. This in turn, culminated into what some people term the “judicial murder” of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight other colleagues called “the Ogoni 9”, by the Abacha regime, followed by a heavy military occupation of the area.
Meanwhile, in spite of the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues, the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, has continued to be synonymous with restiveness, crisis, conflicts and problems. Fresh in our minds are the “Odi Massacre”, in which a whole community were razed down by a heavy federal military might and the Jesse fire incident arising from burst oil pipeline, in which over 1000 people were burnt to death.
On the other hand, governors of the core Niger Delta states have been calling incessantly for a “resource control” of the revenue accruable from their states, instead of the current Federal control. So, what could be done to finally bring peace to the troubled Niger Delta region of Nigeria?
It is the views of Sam Black (1989:15), that, “every conflict in life arises from either lack of communication, inadequate communication or poor communication and their solution lie in effective two-way communication between the publics or parties involved.” While Adirika et al (1987:86) also advised that a company must adequately communicate its good works, products or services to its target publics (internal and external), in order to gain their confidence and goodwill.
Other Public Relations experts and social commentators have variously given a catalogue of recipes for dousing this problem and restoring peaceful working climate in the area. For instance, SPDC’s Public Relations Manager, Enyia (2000:49) enjoined oil companies “to be sensitize to the needs of their host communities in order to operate safely and remain welcome in the oil-bearing communities – committed to continually assess environmental degradation and reduce it to a level as low as practicable”.
On his own part, the one time Corporate Affairs Manager of Chevron, Sola Omole (1999:77) advised that, “the new public relations managers in our oil companies should be issues managers, staying ahead of the emergent issues that have potentials of impacting on the fortunes of their companies.”
In her own piece, Ajala (1993) said that “to be of help to the community, an organization must know the community, that is, its people, its needs, its problems, its interests and its attitudes. It is only when community people are favourably disposed to an organization that they can cooperate with her” while Nwosu (1996:143) says that, “the Public Relations Manager in Nigerian Oil Companies should understand environmental issues, and problems, which includes air and water pollution, environmental sanitation, oil spillage, wildlife and sea-life destruction, deforestation, marine and coastal systems management, environmental problems created by mining, drilling, which leads to the degradation or destruction of environment, depletion of its resources and endangering of the human being and other living things that exist in these environments. He should also have good knowledge of global environmental issues and problems.”
Bearing all these claims in mind, the main thrust of this study is therefore, to undertake a critical appraisal of the effectiveness of public relations employed by oil companies in managing environmental problems/conflicts in the Niger Delta region, with special focus on Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The face-off between Oil Companies and their Host Communities in our Niger Delta region have oftentimes resulted in the stoppage of operations by the companies in those areas, bringing untold economic losses to the nation. It has also engendered a climate of hostility which makes working in the areas very unsafe for the oil workers. Again, the deliberate destruction or vandalization of oil pipe-lines in forms of protests or sabotage, have sometimes left a tale of woes, blood and lives being lost by those communities.
Therefore, continued conflicts and crisis in the Niger Delta region is an evil wind that blows no one any good. Neither the oil companies, nor their host communities nor the Federal Government gains from that. Hence, what has been the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the public relations strategies/techniques so far employed in managing these environmental problems/conflicts in our Niger Delta region?
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is therefore to find answers to the following pertinent research questions:
- To determine how effective the public relations practices of the Oil Companies and the Federal Government in managing environmental problems/conflicts in the Niger Delta region have been.
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To determine if the Oil Companies and the Federal Government have employed adequate two-way communication in relating with the oil-bearing community publics.
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To ascertain whether the public relations strategies/techniques employed so far in addressing environmental issues in the Niger Delta are enough.
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To find out whether qualified and competent public relations managers are being used by the Oil Companies in fashioning-out and or executing those Public Relation strategies/techniques.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following are the research questions
(a) How effective are the public relations practices of the Oil Companies and the Federal Government in managing environmental problems/conflicts in the Niger Delta region?.
(b) Have the Oil Companies and the Federal Government employed adequate two-way communication in relating with the oil-bearing community publics?
(c) Are the public relations strategies/techniques employed so far in addressing environmental issues in the Niger Delta enough?
(d) Are qualified and competent public relations managers used by the Oil Companies in fashioning-out and or executing those Public Relation strategies/techniques?.
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
To find answers to the research questions posed, the following hypotheses are hereby formulated for tests by the researcher:
- The public relations practices of the oil companies in managing environmental problems/conflicts in the Niger Delta have not been effective.
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The oil companies have not employed adequate two way communication in relating with the oil host communities.
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The public relations strategies, techniques and media employed so far in addressing environmental issues in the Niger Deltas are not adequate and right.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study would be restricted in scope to three core Niger Delta states of Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa states and some of their oil producing communities which include; Ogoni land, Bonny, Brass, Eleme, Ijaw, Kolokoma, Jesse, Warri, Odi, Yenegoa, etc. These would serve as sample representatives of other Niger Delta States. While the Public Relations practices of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) will also be used as our case study or sample representative of other oil companies/operating in the Nigeria Delta.
1.7 LIMITATIONS
This research was originally intended to go beyond the South East, and the three television houses serving as focus of study. However, the researcher was constrained by time and finance from extending the research to other zones and other T.V. stations outside the South East.
1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance and importance of this research lie in the following scores:
§ It would help the government to stem the incidence of social unrests, crisis and conflicts that have come to characterize the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
§ It would also unearth some facts that could aid the government in its policy and decision-making formulation that will be mutually rewarding to all the parties involved in this conflict.
§ It would help to engender a climate of peace, friendliness, goodwill and cooperation between the oil companies and their host communities.
§ It would help to arrest the acts of vandalism of oil pipelines, kidnap of oil workers and general acts of violence and restiveness in the Niger Delta regions.
§ It would help the Oil Companies to establish what they have wrong in the past in their Public Relations practices and how best to do it now and in future in order to earn and sustain the confidence and goodwill of their host community publics.