Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and Mobile Telephone Network (MTN)

Issues in Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in Nigeria are billed to abide strictly by corporate social responsibilities (CSR) in their areas of operations. These should compensate for the adverse effects and inadequacies in their operations. Yet, complaints from the stakeholder of CSR portend scepticism over the appropriate implementation of these corporate tasks. The prevailing undesirable effects of the MTN operations and inadequacies question the NCC’s responses to the lapses in CSR. The study examined the causes of the situation and investigated factors that undermined NCC’s regulatory functions. The Marxist developmental and economic theory of exploitation was adopted for the explanation. Findings showed that the exploitative and domineering character of international capitalism in Nigeria is the root of the failure to apply corporate social responsibilities adequately. International capitalism in Nigeria has foreign and domestic exploitative dimensions. The foreign aspect manifests in form of exploitation of resources without strict adherence to rules governing CSR. The domestic angle manifests in form of corrupt practices in NCC regulatory tasks resulting in intentional negligence of regulatory functions. The two dimensions resulted in exploitation, embezzlement, and failure to implement CSR in Nigeria as appropriate. Findings finger incompetent NCC staff and political influence on the regulatory body as factors that made the international exploitation possible. Recruitment of competent staff with proven integrity and NCC real independence from the political influence are workable options for redress.