Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former governor of Anambra, urged Nigerians to adopt cooperative societies to enable them to access funds and fight poverty.
Ezeife advised the National Strategic Cooperation Program of the Non-Governmental Association for Literacy Services (NOGALSS) in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, taking advantage of cooperative platforms will ensure financial stability, especially at times like this.
“The most important thing is to make sure that you embark on something with confidence, this NOGALSS cooperative justifies all confidence.
“It’s in 36 federation states plus Abuja and today they’re launching six more branches; I am not only a patron but also a member of the cooperative.
“If you are a member and you need funds for economic activities, you will borrow from the cooperative and that is why there is empowerment.
“So you have to pay something and belong to the co-op and make sure you are able to obey the rules and then it works for you,” he said.
NOGALSS President Mr. Noah Emmanuel said the association aims to build wealth and financial empowerment within the family of mass literacy, auditing and non-education sector. formal in Nigeria.
Emmanuel said that with the growing number of illiterates in Nigeria, they needed to find ways to fund education to complement government efforts in providing auditing and non-formal education.
“It is a known fact that one of the main reasons for illiteracy is poverty caused by the inability to access funds for economic activities.
“NOGALSS is the coordinating body of all NGOs and private voluntary organizations in Nigeria with structures in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs).
“The cooperative was registered in 2018, we believe that if our members are rich, the organization will be rich, which will make Nigeria literate in a short time,” he said.
Emmanuel said that NOGALSS existed in units of a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 30 members after which another unit would be created.
He said the essence of the cooperative was to build a sustainable financial base through the monthly contribution of members to access additional funds from development partners.
He said that these funds were used to venture into other wealth creation activities on behalf of the cooperative members and to support mass literacy activities as agreed by the cooperative.
Emmanuel said six units were inaugurated, including state coordinators in all 36 states, adding that the standing committee of the NOGALSS cooperative and the investiture of patrons, matrons and national advisers were also inaugurated.
This, he said, because a literate Nigeria was a task that would be done by the cooperative and it would be done through financial prosperity.
Mr. Emmanuel Atama, Executive Secretary of the National Agency for Financial Cooperatives of Nigeria (CFAN), said that cooperatives are playing a greater role in improving the lives of Nigerians.
According to Atama, at the federal secretariat for example, if you see 10 cars parked at the stand, eight were bought through cooperatives.
“What I’m trying to say is that co-ops help people save money and when they save, they save for rainy days.
“This is all the more reason why today, when people retire from duty, they are no longer embarrassed because they were able to save for the rainy days in addition to their end-of-career pay,” did he declare.
Atama said that in most cases, retirees had access to cooperative savings even before their end-of-life benefits were paid.
He said that with the type of society today where things are no longer easy, cooperation is the means by which people have access to the basic necessities of life.
He explained that cooperative societies were not just about money as they were also engaged in the provision of services such as health care, pensions, housing, access to agricultural inputs, access at the market and many other good things in life.
Atama advised every Nigerian to try as much as possible to get involved so that he can actually plan on his own.
He said a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Washington-based African Diaspora Chamber of Commerce to improve the financial inclusion of cooperative members across Nigeria.
