How CSR can impact rural development in Nigeria

In this era of global competition, brands are beginning to understand their place as part of the society.
There is a growing understanding that they should contribute to social activities globally with a desire to improve the immediate environment where they work and many companies are taking keen interest in such activities.

Companies that pay genuine attention to the principles of social responsibility are also favored by the public who prefer to consume their goods and services. This has given rise to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Daily Times checks revealed that, CSR is a doctrine that claims that an entity whether it is state, government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society. In the same vein, Infosys founder, a CSR expert, Narayan Murthy, it is to create maximum shareholders value working under the circumstances, where it is fair to all its stakeholders, workers, consumers, the community, government and the environment.

Nigerians for instance, live in villages. Report shows that around 60 per cent of the Nigerian population live in rural areas. People in rural areas should have the same quality of life as is enjoyed by people living in sub urban and urban areas.
Furthermore, there are cascading effects of poverty, unemployment, poor and inadequate infrastructure in rural areas on urban centres causing slums and consequential social and economic tensions manifesting in economic deprivation and urban poverty. Hence, rural development, which is concerned with economic growth and social justice, improvement in the living standard of the rural people by providing adequate and quality social services and minimum basic needs becomes essential.
Though neglected until recently, Nigeria is primarily an agriculture-based country. Agriculture contributes significantly to its gross domestic product(GDP). In order to increase the growth of agriculture, the government has planned several programs pertaining to rural development. CSR is thus considered very important as far as rural areas are concerned.

Speaking on this issue, an expert in corporate social responsibility, Adewale Okoya told The Daily Times that; “corporate social responsibility in Nigerian companies are now expected to discharge their stakeholder responsibilities and societal obligations, along with their shareholder-wealth maximization goal.”

According to him, “In Nigeria, as in the rest of the world, there is a growing realization that business cannot succeed in a society which fails. An ideal CSR has both ethical and philosophical dimensions, particularly in Nigeria where there exists a wide gap between sections of people in terms of income and standards as well as their socio-economic status.
However, the concept of CSR is not new in Nigeria. The idea of social responsibility in the Nigerian society, bounded by notion of caste and fate, dated back to the time of British Colonial Rule when Nigerian nationalists launched reform movements, which slowly became more socially responsible.”
Also speaking, Pwano Maxwell, a CSR expert said; “during the independence struggle Nigerian companies, which began to proliferate and proper from the mid 20th century, throw in their lot with the nationalists and the resulting concern for the nations caused many of them to be involved in providing education, health service and even clean water to the communities where they do business.

According to him, “in Nigeria, it has also been noticed that when it comes to individual CSR activities, the ‘anonymous’ donor mentality prevails. Of course, with the intense spotlight on the subject, the interest in corporate social responsibility is spreading in Nigeria as well.”

In addition to that, the CSR survey conducted by Daily times recently, covering about twenty industry sectors reveals that this interest is growing as more companies in Nigeria are keen to project themselves as good corporate citizens. This was the most important factor driving CSR in Nigeria, according to the survey.
Good corporate citizenship and CSR initiatives are inextricably linked with improved brand reputation, which is one of the most important drivers of CSR identified by the respondent companies. The other key drivers of CSR in Nigeria were diverse, ranging from stated philosophy of founding fathers to improving relationship with local communities to enhanced shareholder value.

According to him, “in Nigeria, it has also been noticed that when it comes to individual CSR activities, the ‘anonymous’ donor mentality prevails. Of course, with the intense spotlight on the subject, the interest in corporate social responsibility is spreading in Nigeria as well.”