By Moses Nosike
The Cooperative Rating and Award Society of Nigeria (CRASoN), a value based organisation that focuses on monitoring and tracking cooperative performance, capabilities and its economic impacts in Nigeria has reminded the federal and state governments as well as private entities the need to commit financial resources into cooperative ventures that will in turn contribute to economic growth.
In a media chart with journalist in Lagos ahead of its award night, the Founder, CRASoN, Mr. Victor
Oyegoke, said: Cooperative societies has the capabilities to turn around the economy of Nigeria for better, saying that cooperative societies in Nigeria contribute significantly to the country’s economy going by the number of persons it employs in productive ventures.
Following this, Oyegoke said that cooperative societies hold over N500 billion as its share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). He stressed that government should take cooperative business very serious because the sector elevates poverty in the world in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to him, cooperative societies in the South West of Nigeria are thriving and in 2017 annual account report, a cooperative turned out N22.3b Naira surplus in South West, and this is possible especially in Lagos State where there is enabling environment, digitalised and updated bye law.
Continuing he said that most great nations rose to where they are via cooperative enterprises, and a good number of them give top priority to the activities of its cooperative societies as a driving force of their economy.
Oyegoke advised government to channel recovered looted funds into cooperative businesses by supporting existing ones especially in the agricultural sector with finance, and provide an enabling environment and technical know-how to revamp the economy”.
He complained that the existing Nigerian Cooperative Act is long over due for view, so he called on the national assembly to look into the Nigerian Cooperative Act with a view to reforming it, as it was last amended in 2004.
Oyegoke enjoins people to come together to think of cooperative ventures as a viable and feasible means of making impact to oneself and the economy as whole. “We are doing everything possible to take Nigeria’s cooperatives to meet up with international counterparts with best practice of great economies.
However, he said that CRAoSN, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cooperative would award some outstanding cooperative societies and some key stakeholders that have contributed immensely to the growth of cooperative enterprises.