Evaluating Corporate Social Responsibility Through Sustainability Audit in Nigeria

The study examined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the view of sustainability audit in Nigeria, focusing on multinational companies. The primary aim was to investigate the role of sustainability audits in the evaluation of CSR performance, to recognize the challenges in their implementation as well as how they influence corporate transparency, accountability and performance.
The research took a descriptive research design and data collected was based on primary data using structured 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 50 respondents in 10 multinational companies in Nigeria purposely sampled. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used to analyse data collected.
The findings revealed that sustainability audits are essential in the advancement of the CSR process by assisting firms to find their strengths and weaknesses, affecting strategies at the organizational level and improving stakeholder’s trust. However, a number of obstacles were encountered, ranging between cost of auditing, lack of skilled professionals and resistance in organization. Despite these, the findings revealed the fact that sustainability audit has a significant role in enhancing transparency, improve accountability and firms’ performance. All the null hypotheses were rejected and this indicated that there was a significant relationship between sustainability auditing and CSR outcomes.
The study concludes that sustainability audits are not just compliance tools, but are also tools that can be used in making firms responsible. It recommends that improved regulatory frameworks, capacity building, adoption of global reporting standards and the integration of sustainability audits into corporate governance structures. The proposed study adds to the body of knowledge on CSR and sustainability in developing economies, and provides insights to policymakers, researchers and corporates stakeholders.