Abstract
Civil agitation against the irresponsible behaviour of transnational corporations (TNCs) engaged in the extraction of oil and gas in Nigeria has intensifi ed in the recent past, a development which has been aided by several factors. Nigeria is ethnically diverse and so, vast arrays of competing interests are always at play in oil and gas-related issues. Also, political events in Nigeria appear to have fostered a modestly active civil society. Nigeria had, in the recent past, been ruled by a seemingly endless number of military dictators. In response, a number of civil groups were formed to provide opposition to the dictatorships. With the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, some of these groups have now channelled their energy and resources to other causes, including corporate responsibility and accountability. Most signifi cantly, civil agitations in Nigeria’s oil producing communities are as much political as they are social. These communities are perhaps the least developed in Nigeria even though they produce almost all of the country’s oil and gas wealth. This has led to their understandable struggle for development and for access to natural resources on their land. This Article considers the potential for civil society groups and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to play useful roles in the regulation of the environmental and social practices of oil and gas companies in Nigeria. Part II provides an overview of conventional regulatory strategies in Nigeria, including public regulation and self-regulation by oil companies. In Part III, the role of NGOs in regulating the conduct of oil and gas companies is analysed, including their impacts on the behaviour of the companies, the government and the judiciary. Part IV dwells on factors hindering the participation of NGOs in the regulatory process in Nigeria. Finally, Part V examines how the regulatory potential of these groups may be enhanced.
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