The Cooperative stakeholders meeting held recently at the boardroom of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Secretariat in Minna, Niger State, expressed commitment to supporting the present administration in the state, under the leadership of Governor Umaru Mohammed Bago.
The support, they noted, is to help him to succeed towards the implementation of his policies that would ensure sustainable growth and development, particularly in the wake of the government's plan to roll out palliatives to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, which has resulted in the current hardship.
This was part of the resolutions contained in a communiqué released at the end of the one-day stakeholders cooperative meeting, which was issued and signed by the Director Cooperatives, Niger State Ministry of Investment, Commerce, and Cooperatives, Musa Mohammed, and the President, Niger State Cooperative Federation NISCOFED, Comrade Labaran Garba, and made available to Newsline on Friday in Minna.
The communiqué affirmed that cooperative societies are vehicles for driving sustainable development programmes of the government and called on the state government to give top priority and adequate attention to the activities of cooperative societies in the state, as well as making use of the existing constitutional cooperative structure for implementation of its socio-economic programmes for sustainable and better welfare of Nigerites, particularly the workers.
The communiqué also noted the need for cooperative unions in the state to affiliate with NISCOFED towards enhancing the growth and development of the cooperative movement in the state.
It also commended the good efforts of the Niger State Department of Cooperatives for organising the cooperative stakeholders meeting, which was aimed at repositioning the cooperative movement in the state for better performance, and urged the department to sustain the tempo while urging cooperative societies to respect the cooperative structure as enshrined in the Nigeria Cooperative Act 2004 as amended.
The meeting called on the management of various cooperatives in the state to be prudent, accountable, and transparent in the management of their members' funds, as well as making sure that they prepare annual financial reports and submit them to the cooperative department accordingly.
The meeting, however, expressed a vote of confidence in the Executive Committee of the Niger State Cooperative Federation (NISCOFED), led by its President, Comrade Labaran Garba, while affirming its support for the state cooperative federation as the umbrella body for all cooperative societies in the state.
The stakeholders meeting, according to the communiqué, identified the COVID-19 pandemic, insecurity, and the recent increase in the price of premium motor spirits (PMS) occasioned by the removal of subsidies as responsible for the present economic hardship confronting the people at all levels.
In view of this development, the meeting called on the state government to come up with urgent measures that would address these challenges, while they further observed with displeasure the gaps existing between the cooperative movement and the department of cooperatives in the state, stressing that such gaps hinder the growth of cooperatives in the state.
The meeting therefore resolved that the cooperative movement in the state and the cooperative department should entrench cooperative spirit and synergies with each other for growth and development.