Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Rights Accountability in Nigerian Petroleum Industry: From Voluntarism to Legal Positivism

Abstract

The softness and non-bindingness of international law pose a hindrance in imposing binding human rights obligations on corporations. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) seems to leverage on this normative authority of softness of international law to prevent states from imposing human rights sanctions on corporations. This paper explores the dynamics of CSR strategies in the Nigerian petroleum industry and assesses its effectiveness towards corporate human rights responsibility. The paper makes a case for a new approach to CSR deployment for effective corporate human rights responsibility. The paper contends that the adoption of a National Action Plan (NAP) by Nigeria towards the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights will change CSR paradigm from the domain of social voluntarism to the realm of legal positivism. By drawing inspiration from these international guiding principles, the paper proposes for a national legal positivist approach to CSR in the oil industry.