Abstract:
This project undertook an indepth appraisal of the effectiveness of public relations practices of Oil Corporations in Nigeria in managing environmental issues and conflicts in the Niger Delta, with special focus on the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC. The main research objectives were to find answers to the following research question: How effective have been the public relations practices of Oil Companies operating in Nigeria, in managing environmental problems/conflicts in the Niger Delta regions; Have the Oil Companies and the Federal Government employed adequate two-way communication in relating with the oil bearing communities; Are the Public relations strategies/techniques employed so far in addressing environmental issues in the Niger Delta adequate enough; Are qualified and competent public relations managers being used by the Oil Companies in executing their public relations programmes. To find answers to the above, the following null hypotheses were formulated and tested in this study: The Public relations practices of the oil companies operating in Nigeria, in managing environmental issues/conflicts in the Niger Delta have not been effective; The Oil Companies operating in Nigeria have not employed adequate two-way communication in relating with their host communities; The Public Relations strategies/techniques/media employed so far in addressing environmental issues in the Niger Delta are not adequate. The researcher employed opinion survey techniques of face to face interviews, telephone interviews and questionnaires in gathering data for the study. The data were analyzed and tested with the statistical techniques of chi-square (x2 ). At the end of the tests, the following results were obtained: That the public relations practices of the Oil Companies operating in Nigeria in managing environmental issues, crisis and conflicts in the Niger Delta have not been effective; That the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta have not been employing adequate two way communication in relating with their host communities; That the public relations strategies/media /techniques employed so far by the oil companies in addressing environmental issues in the Niger Delta have not been adequate; With this outcome, the researcher then proffered some suggestions and recommendations for improving the public relations practices of Oil Companies operating in the Niger Delta in their relationship with the host communities.
