This Project work was based on the role of public Relation is conflict management between oil producing communities and oil companies. The study was however contained to two major oil companies namely, the shall petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and the part.
Harcourt Returing Company (PHRC). In addition, Eleme Local Government Area Ikwere Local Government Area all in Rivers State which are lost communities to both shell and PHRC were used as case study.
To ensure that the aim is achieved, the work was divided into five chapters, while chapter one deals with the introduction to the Project, Including the theory base, research problems and hypothesis as well as scope and objectives and assumptions of the study, chapter Two involved literature Review. The research methodology in chapter three included the research design, sample instrument, data collection and analysis, procedure, while the expected results were also outlined.
The data collected in respect of the project were analysed in chapter four and elaborate discussions on the topic made. While in chapter five, the study was summarized, conclusion drawn and recommendation made.
The Importance of petroleum to Nigeria can only be fully appreciated when one realizes the dominant role it plays in our economy. Petroleum production and export is the anchor of the Nigerian economy providing almost 90 percent of our export earnings. The communities where these oil producing companies were sited are not left out from being beneficiaries.
Moreover, oil prospecting began in Nigeria as far back as 1908, when a German Company, the Nigeria Bitumen corporation started exploration in the Araromi area west of Nigeria, now Undo State. Their pioneering efforts, however ended with the outbreak of the first world war in 1914. In 1937, oil prospecting resumed in Nigeria, shell D’ Arey ( The foreunner of the present shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria) was awarded the sole concessionary rights covering the whole territory of Nigeria. Their activities were again interrupted by the second world war, but resumed in 1947, however, it was not until 1956 that oil was discovered in commercial quantities at Oloibiri in the Niger Delta after several years of search and an investment of over N30 Million. Shell started oil production and export from its Oloibiri field in 1958.
By 1961, other companies such as Mobil, Agip, Safrip, Texaco (Now Total thira) had be an exploration activities for oil are of Nigeria. The exploration which had formerly been grant to shell alone, was no extend to the newcomers in line with the Government’s policy of increasing the face of exploration in the country through which more communities came to be beneficiaries.
The main objective of oil companies today is the exploration and production of oil and other hydrocarbons.
Today, oil revenue from the mainstay of the economy, unlike the early tities and sixties, agriculture was the traditional economic blessing of the country. With the little or non-functioning of agricultural production, oil companies are therefore, expected to labour harder to achieve the expectation and objectives of this beloved country known as the produced of the “black gold”. The communities also have increased in their pronounced need for compensation from oil spillage. This was how public relations machinery came into the surface to be the middleman to dialogue between the communities and the companies existing within their premises.
It was in this process in 1969 that the Federal government backed up the business of oil exploration and exploitation with the instrument of law, thereby making hydrocarbons discovery in the country an exclusive property of the Federal Government. The oil prospecting decree was promulgated in 1969.
Subsequently, the land-use Act of 1978, equally vested on the Governor or Chief executive of a state, the ownership of the entire land that belongs to that state. Therefore, the land and every thing discovered beneath or above was the property of the Governor or Chief Executive.
Therefore, as the exploration and exploitation of oil sectors manifested day-by-day, various host communities because more and more sophisticated in terms of benefits in such areas like education, information and more purposeful and dogged. In the demand for what they feel, rightly should belong to them, especially in ensuring that the activities of the oil companies do not send the communities into extinction through environmental hazard. Therefore, they began to see the need to ask for compensation and other benefit from the companies and also to pressurize the government to use part of the revenues, darned from oil in the development of their communities.
This extend to the for improvement of the economic situation surrounding their localities such as demanding for employment for the educated youths, also for the unskilled youths for labour, and improved social amenities as pipe borne water supply, electricity supply, building of good roads and rewarding of scholarship to their children etc. These various communities also see the oil companies as exploits when their demands were not met, and so, began to protest against the contained exploitation of such activities on their environment.
As a matter of fact, since the government is a sophisticated entity that the communities may not be able to contend with, they helplessly turned to the oil companies to unleash their anger. This is the crux of the matter.
Crisis situation have caused a lot of problems between the host communities and the oil companies.
Some of these problems include:-
To resolve these crises, Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), shall petroleum Development Company, Total Tina and other companies have adopted public Relations strategies aimed at “achieving better understanding of these companies’ role and contribution to the improvement of life in the communities in which they operate and thus reducing the disruption of their operations through subsequent crises.
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