By Doris Esa
The Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN) has called on the Federal Government to use the existing cooperative platforms for the implementation of its socio-economic programmes.
The President of CFN, Mr Tajudeen Oriyomi made the call on Wednesday in Abuja, at a news conference on the upcoming 2023 International Cooperative Day celebrations slated for July.
Oriyomi said that the government’s implementation of their socio-economic programmes would lead to sustainable and better welfare of the Nigerian people.
He said the theme for the 2023 International Cooperative Day is : Cooperatives for Sustainable Development”.
Oriyomi said that the celebration would increase awareness on the contributions of the cooperative movement, to provide solutions to some of the problems affecting the world.
He said the celebration would be used to highlight successes and challenges of cooperatives, and chart a course of action for further growth and development in the coming years.
Oriyomi said that the occasion would also be used to strategise to surmount identified challenges of the cooperatives.
” We are willing to do more for Nigerians in partnership with the government through any of her agencies.
” Let me at this juncture appeal to the Federal Government to pay adequate attention to the cooperative sector.
” Cooperative is a veritable tool for driving sustainable programmes worldwide and has been recognised by the United Nations as a resilient business model,” he said.
He said that cooperatives have been consciously involved in the growth and development of the Nigerian economy,” he said.
The president said that many cooperatives across the country are involved in agriculture and manufacturing of agro-allied products.
Oriyomi said that cooperatives and co-operators in Nigeria have huge investments in land and water transportation, education (primary and secondary schools) housing and health facilities worth hundreds of billions of Naira.
He said that with over 20 million co-operative members across the country, the organisation was willing to partner with the current administration to drive sustainable growth for the country.
Oriyomi said that the cooperative movement is a global organisation with membership in 107 countries including Nigeria.
” In Nigeria, cooperatives are in practically all spheres of human endeavours and all nooks and crannies of our rural and urban areas.
He appreciated AfriCoopers Limited for partnering with the Cooperative association for a National Cooperative Enumeration.
” The exercise is aimed at collecting and collating data on cooperative societies, their activities and members.
” This is to enable us have more reliable data for the cooperative sector in Nigeria, so as to be able to substantiate the contributions of cooperatives to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of our country.
He implored co-operators in all the states of the federation to participate actively in the celebration of 2023 International Cooperative Day in their states.
Oriyomi said that activities lined up for the celebrations included road shows, match pass, exhibition of cooperative products, lectures, workshops among others.
He appreciated the efforts of cooperatives and their members in building a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
“Together, we can forge stronger partnerships to address the world’s most pressing challenges and create a better world for generations to come,” he said.(NAN)
