Community development projects or environmental protection: what matters most to oil-producing host communities in the Niger Delta, Nigeria?

Nigeria produces about 2.7 million barrels of crude oil per day which makes it the largest crude oil producer in Africa. This natural resource, which accounts for over 80% of the country’s revenue, is solely produced in the Niger Delta region. The UNDP (2006) in its Niger Delta Human Development Report described the region as suffering from “administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth, squalor and endemic conflict.” Determined to build a better relationship aimed at creating an enabling environment for business, the Nigerian government and oil multinational corporations embarked on a number of community development projects.