The Obligation of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria’s Niger Delta: A Kantian Perspective

Abstract

The oil prospection and production activities of International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria have raked in trillions of dollars into the Nigerian economy, yet the host communities remain a sorry sight as they wallow in abject poverty and utter neglect due largely to irresponsible exploitation of oil. The IOCs have continued to operate to date with palpable sense of indifference at best, and of careless abandon at worse, to the sordid plight of the host communities. It very much seems the IOCs operate on the pretext that their responsibility only lies in the exploitation and production of crude oil to the exclusion of care for the environment and the populations of their host communities. The question, therefore, is how long could this situation last without eventual catastrophic extermination of lives and natural resources of massive proportions? The paper examines the International Oil Companies’ obligation for care of the environment against the backdrop of Kantian categorical imperative. It emphasizes the urgent need for compensation for the damages already done so far; and the paramount necessity for moral caution in further exploitation of oil in accordance with the global best practices. It concludes by maintaining that exploitation of oil in Niger Delta of Nigeria could well be embarked on with minimal or zero damage on the environment much as it is in the home countries of the IOCs if necessary cautions are exercised.