The American special envoy to Africa, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, has called on oil companies working in Nigeria to do more to help the people living in the country's oil-producing Niger Delta region.

Mr Jackson, speaking in Lagos at the end of a five-day visit to Nigeria, called for a policy of inclusion, to allow local people to gain greater benefits from the lucrative oil industry.

He also challenged the largest oil company in Nigeria -- Royal Dutch Shell -- to solve environmental problems in the Nile Delta region. A BBC correspondent in Lagos says Mr Jackson's comments will not be well-received by the oil companies who say that they pay high taxes to the Nigerian government, which has the ultimate responsibility to the people of the Niger Delta .

There have been increasing tensions between the Niger Delta communities and the oil companies; kidnappings of oil workers and sabotage attacks on oil installations are a regular occurence.