Abstract

Stakeholder engagement and reporting on non-financial issues enable the company to demonstrate that it understands the concerns of society and explain how it is addressing them. Social and environmental policies are currently incoherent, haphazard and without regulation in Nigeria. This paper examines stakeholder engagement as an offshoot of sustainable governance which is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and their interactions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. The ongoing social upheavals in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria are an attestation of failure of effective stakeholders’ engagement by the multinational companies (MNCs), This paper examines the concept of stakeholder engagement as a solution to these conflicts, its importance to sustainable corporate governance and the global practice and standards. This paper further appraises the adequacy of the current laws, regulations, policies and practice for regulating stakeholder engagement by MNCs in Nigeria. A mandatory legal, more effective disclosure regime and regulations of stakeholder engagement is advocated.