Corporate Social Responsibility and the Rentier Nigerian State: Rethinking the Role of Government and the Possibility of Corporate Social Development in the Niger Delta

Abstract This paper contributes to the emerging discussion on the role of government in corporate social responsibility (CSR) from a developing country perspective. Drawing on a preliminary conceptual framework, the paper critically examines the extent to which the Nigerian government has facilitated or inhibited CSR practices, and the ramifications for corporate social development. It demonstrates that the nature of the Nigerian state, the country's rentier economy, and the contested nature of CSR have prevented the Nigerian government from providing an enabling environment for CSR, which, together with oil companies' failures, undermine the possibility of corporate social development in the Niger Delta.