Decades of irresponsible oil exploitation in the Niger Delta have caused a water and air
pollution which does not have many comparisons anywhere else. In an already fragile country as
Nigeria characterised by weak democratic institutions and poor economic governance this
situation has led to increasing discontent and violence towards both the government and the oil
multinationals. These two actors co-operate for the maximisation of oil profits and revenues
while at the same time excluding local host communities from the participation in the oil
development projects preventing them from achieving a sustainable development violating their
human rights and compromising their livelihoods. This book analyses the legal framework of
Nigeria in the oil sector and the peculiarities of the country in order to provide a critical
overview of the issues demonstrating that the amendment of the domestic Acts dealing with the
topic as well as the remediation to the damages caused by oil multinationals are no longer
deferrable. The final aim is to suggest a pattern to sustainable oil development which by
means of applying the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility would help to quell the
conflict to improve the local people s standards of life and to make Nigeria emerge as a
socio-environmentally responsible African resource-rich country.
