An investigation of social and environmental disclosure in the Nigerian oil industry
Creators: name: Atang, Charles Thompson
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Social and Environmental Disclosure (SED)
Disclosure Themes
Stakeholder Theory
Thematic Analysis
Content Analysis
Community Welfare and Waste Management

description: The thesis examines social and environmental disclosures in the Nigerian oil industry. This thesis identifies companies' motivations for SED in the Nigerian oil industry, investigates the perceptions and associations between the oil companies and the host communities where they operate and discusses the challenges faced in developing and promoting the social and environmental disclosures reporting among the host communities and the Nigeria oil industries. In addition, the thesis also explores the scope of social and environmental disclosure (SED) reporting practices among oil industries that operate in the Nigeria oil sector and examines the differences between Nigeria's domestic and international oil industries concerning the disclosure of social and environmental information to several stakeholders. A mixed research design approach using primary and secondary research methodology was applied to answer the related research questions.

For the primary research design based on the qualitative approach, the researcher collected data from the interview responses of twenty-four participants drawn from the four Nigerian states: - Akwa Ibom State, Bayelsa State, Delta State, and Rivers State. Thematic analysis using NVivo software generates broad themes to answer the research objectives/questions on the host communities' motivation, perception, and association with SED and the challenges the Nigerian oil industry faced with SED reporting. The thematic analysis findings indicate that host communities are motivated to assess social welfare contribution, environmental conservation, and waste management practices adopted by the oil industries; also, the regulations and accountability are some of the motivations for developing and promoting the SED in Nigeria oil industries. However, when oil prices have declined, inconsistent SED policies and financial restrictions remain a crucial challenge in the Nigerian oil industries' regular provision of SED reports. Challenges emanate from the lack of solid laws to compel the companies to embrace SED in their operations. Most of the interviewed individuals expressed positive perceptions of their association with the oil companies in their communities, while the others expressed dissatisfaction.

For the secondary research design based on  the quantitative approach, the researcher collected data from the Nigeria Stock Exchange and SED annual reports of eighteen Nigerian oil industries (Domestic and International oil companies). The researcher applied qualitative content analysis to examine SED reporting practices' leading causes in the Nigerian oil industry and the differences between domestic and international oil industries. Data analysis involved using SPSS and ANOVA statistical tools to establish significant differences between the concepts investigated. The outcome based on the qualitative content analysis reveals that community welfare disclosure, employee-related SEDs, and environmental SEDs are the most critical factors of social and environmental disclosure among the Nigerian oil industries. Furthermore, the findings from the content analysis indicate that due to their strong corporate governance structures and financial capability, most of the international oil industries that operate in Nigeria have better SED reporting practices than the Nigeria domestic oil industries. The thesis concludes and recommends promoting a culture of SED reporting practices. There is a need for a solid regulatory framework to guide SED reporting coupled with a sensitisation on community involvement. These findings have a significant implication for the social and environmental policies that need to be adopted by Nigeria's stock market and industry regulatory agencies. Moreover, the thesis also concluded that SED development in Nigeria's oil industry was gaining significant growth and importance, but the domestic oil industries needed to do more.