Re‐defining corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria's post‐amnesty oil industry

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to highlight the opportunity that exists within the ambience of peace in the Niger Delta precipitated by the amnesty deal; particularly for the oil‐multinationals that operate there, to re‐invent the delivery of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to maintain peaceful relations with their hosts and therefore optimize their business potentials. Design/methodology/approach - The method is purely a review of extant literatures and deductive arguments that will give insights to how conflict situations arising from denial of rights can be resolved through the CSR and stakeholder's perspective. Findings - The paper concludes that the oil‐multinationals operating in the Niger Delta region ought to take advantage of the ambience of relative peace which has been created by the amnesty initiative to re‐invent their relationship with their host‐communities. Practical implications - The oil‐multinationals must seize the opportunity of a peaceful operating environment precipitated by the amnesty deal to engage with their host‐communities more objectively. This move will contribute to a healthy relationship between both parties and contribute to sustainable peace, which is a requisite to the sustainable exploitation of oil resources in the region, sustainable development of the resource, region and country. Originality/value - The paper draws upon the hypotheses in extant literature that argue that there is a link between the local expectations of oil‐multinationals CSR, its actual delivery and violent conflicts in the Niger Delta region. It however moves the discourse forward by highlighting the window of opportunity that the federal government's amnesty initiative has opened to reassess CSR thinking, strategies and implementation.