Corporate Social Responsibility Approaches of Tertiary Institutions in Taraba State, Nigeria: Focus on Taraba State University, Jalingo

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is what all organizations, including tertiary institutions, must adopt as a public relations tool in managing their publics internally and externally. It is a management approach towards building and sustaining a cordial and harmonious coexistence between an organization and its environment. Organizations including tertiary institutions conscious of corporate social responsibility, find themselves not only ensuring that the welfare of their internal publics is not only taken care of, but they ensure that they give back to their communities what they have taken from them. This study is, therefore, carried out to determine whether tertiary institutions in Nigeria, especially the ones in Taraba State recognize and apply corporate social responsibility in relating with their environments. Anchored on the stakeholder theory, the study adopted survey as its design with data quantitatively collected through the instrument of questionnaire. The collected data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings revealed that even though the university under study recognizes corporate social responsibility as a public relations tool of achieving harmony with its environment, it does not apply it effectively. Findings further showed that inability of the university to be effective in the application of corporate social responsibility is not unconnected with lack of adequate financial sponsorship by the government. This situation leaves the university in a very pathetic situation as often the university operates without electricity and other social amenities, staff are often denied their benefits with constant strikes which have become the order of the day. The study, therefore, recommends, among many others, that government of Taraba State and Nigeria as a whole should take education more serious by allocating substantial part of their budgets to education.