The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of MOCs’ CSR using global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on extenuating the resurgence of ransom kidnapping in the oil host communities of Nigeria.
Using explanatory research design, the study took on both descriptive and inferential statistics to answer the four research questions. Then, with the use of multiple sampling techniques, primary data were generated from a sample of 800 respondents picked from the region’s nine states.
Results from the estimation of a logit model and use of propensity score matching to ascertain the key variance between variables in the treatment and control shows that noteworthy efforts have been made by the MOCs’ via CSR – GMoUs in the areas that aids in bringing down the main drivers of kidnapping for ransom (impoverishment, under/unemployment, wreckage of land and poor exposure to training).
This suggests that MOCs are aptly positioned to confront the drivers and triggers of economic kidnapping through investment in cluster development boards (CDBs) that will better environmental justice, provide pro-youth programmes that harness appropriate skills required for peaceful engagement and compliment government efforts in the planning and execution of the development agenda for their respective communities.
This implies that if the host communities do not feel that CSR projects will create a sustainable economic development, they will keep agitating for change and create a hostile environment for MOCs.
This research contributes to the public-private partnership debate on ransom kidnapping as a social challenge from the CSR perspectives.
