This paper assessed the effects of oil spillage on community development in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria with a view to determine its adverse effects on poverty and hunger and its eradication in the region. The concepts of oil spillage, community development, poverty and hunger were reviewed. To effectively assess the effects, three research questions were formulated and analyzed. The instruments used for data collection were the questionnaire, focus group discussions and observation. The face and content validity was tested and also the reliability. Research assistants were used to administer the 15 items questionnaire while the focus group discussions and observations were done by the researchers. The data was analyzed using percentages and weighted mean. The modified likert scale was used to assign values and criterion mean of 2.50 to analyze the research questions. The results of the study showed that the causes and effects of oil spillage were the same in the oil producing states; poverty in the community caused by oil spillage has led to environmental degradation; poverty rate is still on the increase due to poor health as the children are malnourished; the rate of youth unemployment is high and there is no evidence of the national food security in the communities. Thus, achieving millennium development goal one is still a mirage in this region. It will take the efforts of the oil companies, government and community members to institute control measures on oil spillages.
Exploration activities of Oil companies in most communities in Nigeria have negatively impacted on the environment where they are performing their business activities without adequate compensation to the community people. Such negative impacts include; gas flaring, oil spillages, noise and air pollution and so on and these affect the flora and fauna. Even whem compensations are paid, they are not commensurate to the damage and this result in communal conflicts, overheated and prolonged agitations, frustrations, loss of lives and properties and consequently unhealthy relationship between the oil companies and their host communities. This is basically as a result of community people possessing little or no awareness of the terms of the corporate social responsibility to be performed by all participating stakeholders especially the oil companies. This paper therefore examines how capacity building programmes can be employed as a means to equipping and increasing the awareness of community people with necessary information on corporate social responsibility of oil companies for sustainable community development in Nigeria. Some of such programmes include adult literacy education, extension education, conferences, seminars, talk shows, education consultancy just to mention a few. The paper therefore suggests that community members should be adequately informed on existing aspects of the corporate social responsibilities of oil companies operating in their locality and that these oil companies perform their corporate social responsibility to their host communities effectively in order to foster sustainable community development.
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