A Critical Appraisal of the Impact of the Activities of Multinational Oil Corporations on Human Rights in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

ABSTRACT Multinational Oil Corporations (MOCs) are oil prospecting and mining industries with different subsidiaries in joint venture agreement with State owned Oil Companies in different regions of the world. In Nigeria, the activities of these MOCs are most prominent in oil producing communities in the Niger Delta Region. The MOCs operating in Nigeria have impaired the environment of the host communities through negative oil exploration activities resulting in oil pollution that led to increased poverty, unimaginable underdevelopment and human rights violations and violent conflicts. Multinational oil corporations are powerful entities that could not easily be held accountable for their atrocities under domestic jurisdictions because they wield a high influence on host governments coupled with nonjusticiability or lax environmental laws that prevail. Therefore, this thesis will examine the 105 different possibilities for extraterritorial legal action against MOCs by relying on the opportunities provided by American Alien Tort Claims Act of 1798. This work further studied the application of international human rights jurisprudence to provide the linkage between human rights violations and the operations of multinational oil corporations in Nigeria. Hence, this thesis, will “Critically Appraisal of the Impact of the Activities of Multinational Oil Corporations on Human Rights in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria”. This research work will be divided into seven chapters. Chapter one presents a general introduction of the thesis. Chapter two will consist of definitions and analysis of conceptual frameworks while Chapter three will be an analysis of national and international legal standards on the protection of human rights to development, freedom from exploitation of natural resources, environmental pollution and peace while chapter four will discuss the complicity of multinational oil corporations on human rights violations in the Niger Delta Region. Chapter five will examine the various ways in which the activities of MOCs have affected the development, security situation and limitations on access to justice for litigants challenging illegalities of the Multinational Oil Corporations in the Niger Delta Region. Chapter six will address the linkage between multinational corporations and human rights accountability in home states. Lastly, this thesis will be concluded with chapter seven which presents the summary of findings, conclusion and recommendations in resolving the problems associated with the activities of MOCs operating in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.