Stakeholders Meet At Federal Cooperative College Oji River For National Training As Minister Stresses Renewed Hope For Cooperatives

By Raymond Ozoji 

Stakeholders at a 2-day national training for Trustees, Executive Committees and Cooperative Managers from the 11 states of the Southeast and South-south geo-political zones of the country have brainstormed as well as cross-pollinated ideas as to the best possible ways of advancing cooperative business in the country. 

The 2-day national training and workshop for the upper echelon of the cooperative industry which was held at the Federal Cooperative College Oji River Enugu State, afforded participants ample time to interface with the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, with a view to proferring viable solutions and suggestions to the perennial problems associated with the growth and advancement of cooperatives in Nigeria. 

 

The capacity building workshop which addressed the concerns of the participants brought renewed hope to the cooperators as they attested to the fact that the meeting with the Honourable Minister was the first time they had such high-powered strategic engagement with the federal government. 

The Honourable Minister Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi who declared the training open, noted that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very passionate about the cooperative sector, adding that a lot of reforms are in place to revitalize and revamp the sector for better and more profitable cooperative engagements devoid of fraudulent practices and fake cooperators. 

The Minister explained that the cooperative industry is a sector that has been neglected over time but however assured the stakeholders that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has left a remarkable space for the cooperative sector. He said that government has a reform and revitalisation programme for the cooperative sector and that the federal government also wants to use the cooperative sector to mobilize capital and human resources for food security to fight poverty and to ensure that there is shared prosperity. 

He therefore emphasized that President Tinubu has recognized the economic viability of the cooperative sector and has shown unwavering commitment to prioritizing cooperative movements as he promised in his manifesto. 

The Agric Minister who disclosed that the national training programme for stakeholders in the cooperative industry has been flagged off at the Federal Cooperative College Kaduna for the Northern Cooperatives Forum while Federal Cooperative College Ibadan will host the Southwest Cooperative Stakeholders, noted that the overall objective is to ensure all stakeholders are carried along in the  Renewed Hope Cooperative Reforms and Revamp Programmes of the federal government. 

Sen. Abdullahi however emphasized that the cooperative sector may have been abandoned for some years by not giving it the required attention but assured stakeholders that renewed hope for the cooperative sector has come and there is a dire need for all to work together to make the cooperative sector great again in Nigeria and Africa at large inorder to contribute to global socio-economic development. 

Provost and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Cooperative College Oji River Dr. Ejikeme Obidiegwu while welcoming the Honourable Minister and participants to the 2-day national workshop on the wayforward for the cooperative sector, noted that Federal Cooperative College Oji River Enugu State is the first to host such high profile technical session in the country. 

Obidiegwu therefore expressed belief that the stakeholders engagement would achieve its aim which he said would be beneficial to cooperative movements in the country. He also stated that the renewed hope cooperative reform and revamp programme of the federal government will help enhance the capacities of cooperative providers and managers to drive growth and development within the sector. 

He maintained that as the Provost and Chief Executive Officer, he is proud to say that Federal Cooperative College Oji River has been recognized for its potential in enhancing service delivery in cooperative development. 

Obidiegwu however expressed profound gratitude to the Honourable Minister for appointing him the Chief Executive Officer and Provost of the Federal Cooperative College Oji River after a rigorous recruitment process and recommendations facilitated by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) as enshrined in the ARCN Act as amended in 2021 and for the institutional support the college has received so far. 

He said that the Minister's visit to the college will undoubtedly give it more visibility while they look forward to his continued partnership and support even as he expressed hope that during the college 50th anniversary and convocation ceremony, the Honourable Minister will grace the occasion to witness the giant strides the school has made under his watch as the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security while thanking the Minister for his commitment to cooperative development in Nigeria. 

Meanwhile the Executive Chairman of Oji River Local Government Area Mr. Greg Anyaegbudike who described cooperatives as veritable means of sustainable livelihoods, stressed the need for reforms to regulate its practices so that the reasons for which they are established would be achieved. 

Anyaegbudike therefore advised cooperators who attended the summit to maintain the highest level of professionalism in their cooperative endeavours while urging governments, corporate bodies as well as private sector individuals to support cooperatives through access to funds and other forms of assistance for the sector to flourish describing it as a poverty alleviation mechanism. 

Some of the participants at the 2-day national summit affirmed that the stakeholders engagement with the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi will indeed chart a new cause of positive actions towards cooperative development in the country. 

Hence, Mrs. Immaculata Ezeoha the Ebonyi State Director of Cooperatives, noted that the Minister wants to revitalize the cooperative sector in the country as evident in the reforms being initiated for remedial actions in the sector. Ezeoha observed that most cooperatives are having problems but with the new policies on ground, cooperatives would put the map of Nigeria in the world even as she described the academic environment of the Federal Cooperative College Oji River as serene and very conducive for learning. 

Elder Ipolite Uzoka the National Vice President of Cooperative Federation of Nigeria Southeast, said the 2-day national summit was a clear departure from what used to be and where the cooperative sector is currently headed. 

Elder Uzoka who described the Honourable Minister as a very pragmatic cooperator, said he has passion for cooperation and he is beginning to show results for what he knows how to do best. 

He said cooperatives is about food security, wealth creation, reductions in restiveness in the society, to mention a few, pointing out that for a current serving Minister to undertake to revamp and revitalize the cooperative sector meant he understood what other previous governments failed to do which according to him, implied that there is renewed hope for cooperators in Nigeria through the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi. 

Similarly, Dr. Mrs. Elizabeth Chidi-Wike who is the Director of Cooperatives in Rivers State, opined that all the 11 states of the Southeast and South-south geo-political zones met at the Federal Cooperative College Oji River Enugu State to forge a formidable front cooperative development in the country. 

Mrs. Chidi-Wike stated that the Honourable Minister has been intervening to see how cooperative societies and cooperative activities that have been moribund for years would be rejuvenated; describing the move as a welcome development. 

The Rivers State Director of Cooperatives who described cooperatives as viable tools for economic empowerment, expressed hope that should all the recommendations reached at the summit be implemented and governors develop keen interests in cooperatives, the sector would become more lucrative, create wealth and reduce poverty in the country.