JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Journal of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria
ISSN: 1597-0396
DOI: 10.5987/UJ-JSMS
Email: jsms@universityjournals.org
SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (SPDC) AND COMMUNAL CONFLICTS IN BAYELSA STATE
DOI: 10.5987/UJ-JSMS.16.018.1 | Article Number: B27C0D18 | Vol.10 (3) - September 2015
Authors: OKOLO Philips O. , CLARK V. E. and OHWONA A. I.
Keywords: Bayelsa State, Conflict, Communal, Human Need
This paper examined the relationships between activities of SPDC and Communal Conflicts in Bayelsa State. The paper relied extensively on the non survey research method and was anchored on the Human Need Theory. It applied the stratified sampling technique to select five communities from the state. Four hundred (400) questionnaires were administered and 364 (91.%) were retrieved upon which analysis was based. The study showed among others that, there is a significant relationship between SPDC’s production activities and intra/inter communal conflicts in Bayelsa State. The study identified conflicts resulting from oil exploration activities of SPDC as impacting negatively on the socio-economic lives of the people of the oil bearing communities in numerous ways – deepened inequality, worsened poverty and increased unemployment. Among others, it was recommended that SPDC should device good working relations with stake holders in the oil bearing communities of the State.