Participatory communication, host communities’ development in public policy reforms: An appraisal of Nigeria's petroleum industry act 2021-2024

Abstract

The long and tedious walk to the eventual implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act after different stages of public hearings  at stakeholders’ level and committee stages at the National Assembly became feasible following President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent  in 2021. Chapter 3, section 240 of the Act gives consent for 3 percent annual profits from oil companies operating in different  communities in the Niger Delta for host communities’ development to be administer by Host Communities Development Trust Fund and  supervised by the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum  Regulatory Authority (NMDPR). Even though the passage of the PIA heralded a supposed new dawn for oil producing communities to  overcome different throes of oil extraction induced underdevelopment as part of the gains of public sector reforms such as the PIA, yet  participatory communication driven interaction through  development oriented communication to acquaint every host community with  key provisions of the PIA to get them involved in decision making and implementation of the policy thrust seems elusive. This study  therefore seeks to, efficacy of participatory communication in engendering stakeholder’s interest in the composition of Board of Trustees  of Host Communities Development Trust Fund and utilisation of funds for development purposes, possible breaches and  channels that monitor provisions of Petroleum Industry Act to enhance its operational efficiency for Host Communities Development. The  study was anchored on the development media theory and participatory communication theory. Survey method was adopted for the  study with questionnaire and In-Depth Personal Interviews as instruments for data collection. Using multi stage sampling technique,  data were analysed in simple percentages presentation and themes. Among other findings, the study revealed that lack of in-depth knowledge and abysmal awareness on the provisions of the PIA often results in breaches against chapter 3 of the PIA advocating for  openness and transparency in implementing PIA provisions on host communities. The study recommends that international  organisations, environmental rights agenda, state governments and development partners should sponsor the media to carry out  quarterly open dialogue on transparency in the implementation of the PIA, to entrench an aggressive, indigenous and strategic media  campaign to drive comprehensive knowledge about the PIA in different host communities across oil producing areas and total responsibility of safeguarding oil facilities should be borned by oil operators rather than putting a caveat on the host communities as requirement for benefiting from the 3 percent profits for Host Communities Development Trust Fund.