Mr. President I am very sure that Co-operatives if given chance can create sustainable growth and quality employment in Nigeria.
Co-operatives are a major part of the global economy. According to the most recent figures of the World Co-operative Monitor the 300 largest co-operatives in the world have a combined turnover of USD 2.4 trillion (2015 figure), the equivalent of the 7th largest national economy, and according to a recent study, 250 million people are employed or earn their living thanks to a co-operative.
Co-operatives can combine economic growth with quality employment and are recognized by international organizations like the ILO for their work in this area.
I feel indebted to offer my leaders and institutions in Nigeria cooperative ideas, solutions and suggestions on how to tackle some of the major economic and social challenges of our time.
The co-operative business and economics model can deliver sustainable economic growth and employment and therefore should be promoted and developed in Nigeria.
The Nigerian economy needs more diversity and openness in terms of business forms in order to be more stable, fair and resilient; it is important that cooperatives are allowed to operate in all areas of economic activity and that their model is promoted more widely;
Co-operatives need an adequate enabling policy and regulatory environment that recognizes and respects their specific characteristics to be able to better perform their mission and objectives;
Economic growth is a tool to create wealth – not an end in itself – and cannot not be achieved to the detriment of human rights, people, workers and/or local communities;
The co-operative model of business and economics is in a privileged position to achieve the aims of sustainable growth and employment because it is people-centered and values-based and the wealth it generates is more equitably distributed to members, workers and the community at large.
Co-operative enterprises are a well suited model of business to deliver Sustainable Development Goals and have an important role in the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Mr president, Co-operatives can solve our present food insecurity in Nigeria and foster food security.
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
By 2050, the population of the Earth will stand at 9 billion. In order to feed all of these people, agricultural production will have to increase by at least 60 per cent.
Farming and agriculture is where the co-operative business and economics model is most widely utilized. We should than God that Nigeria is blessed by God with a fertile land that can grow whatever we plant in it. Co-operatives together have an estimated 32 per cent of the global market share in this sector.
Co-operatives contribute to food security by helping small agricultural producers to solve the numerous challenges that confront them in their endeavours to produce food. These challenges often include remoteness and lack of access to information about food prices on national and international markets; access to high-quality inputs and variable costs of buying seeds and fertilizer; access to loans to buy these inputs; and lack of transport and other infrastructure in rural areas.
Agricultural co-operatives help farmers overcome these obstacles by offering their members a variety of services such as group purchasing and marketing, input shops for collective purchases, as well as building small producers’ skills by providing them with knowledge and information, and helping them to innovate and adapt to changing markets. Importantly, co-operatives facilitate farmers’ participation in decision-making processes and help small producers’ voice their concerns and interests,

Bros, d idea for make sense, but no vex o...
You want people in a govt who blame others for lassa fever, couldn't tackle a recurrent tomato pest infestation, summersault several times per policy and still can't outline an economic policy, much less tell us where this nation should be 2 years after winning an election-
You really expect them to start cooperatives? Complex, deeply involving, fraud-prone institutions?
I taya for you o...