AKS BUREAU OF COOPERATIVES HOSTS STAKEHOLDERS’ MEETING

-As Alice Ekpenyong reaffirms Gov Eno’s commitment to cooperative societies

The Bureau of Cooperatives and Rural Development, Akwa Ibom State, on Tuesday, April 22, hosted a stakeholders’ meeting of cooperative societies with participants drawn from the 31 Local Government Areas of the State.

In her welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Bureau of Cooperative and Rural Development, Rt. Hon. Alice Ekpenyong, disclosed that the state government was committed to making the cooperative sector a vital part of the state’s economic space, adding that it was necessary to adopt certain modern strategies to improve the sector.

“The cooperative model continues to generate global interest and attention as an indispensable and integral part of the global social economy. It is receiving very serious considerations from governments, global development institutions and non-governmental organisations either directly or indirectly as an influencing variable towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The cooperative sector in the State has not shown signs of progress and there are many reasons for this. Firstly, we are yet to fully explore the full potentials of cooperative society models. Secondly, the issue of poor performance of cooperative societies in the State.

“In view of this, it has become imperative to take steps towards implementing a comprehensive strategy to transform the sector for broader development gains.

“The State Government led by His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno, has decided to step in and give crucial support to cooperatives at all levels. This will help strengthen the present generation of cooperatives as well as empower them to achieve larger community goals such as cohesion, resilience and economic prosperity”, she noted.

While reaffirming that the administration of Governor Umo Eno was committed to supporting Cooperative Societies through provision of grants and other empowerments, Hon Ekpenyong disclosed that part of the essence of this Stakeholders’ Meeting was to enlighten the participants on how to benefit from the various programmes of the government.

“In line with Governor Umo Eno’s commitment to accountability and transparency, we are going to develop a comprehensive database of registered Cooperative Societies in Akwa Ibom. This will enable the Government to know the genuine ones to empower and how to monitor their progress.

“As part of our efforts to interpret the laudable vision of Governor Umo Eno for cooperative societies, we are proposing the Akwa Ibom State Cooperative Transformation Strategy 2025 – 2030 (AK-COOPTS); a five year strategic roadmap to create a new wealth base through Cooperatives.
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‎”The AK-COOPTS roadmap will consist of an agenda for new frontier areas with transformational impact on job creation that will position Akwa Ibom among the top states in Nigeria with the most viable cooperative sector”, she further stated.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Director of Cooperatives in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Monday John, said that it was necessary for members of cooperative societies to start up a business and be consistent in promoting their brand, advising against people only rushing to start business when they hear of government grants, loans or other forms of empowerment.

Mr John also reiterated that Governor Eno was always ready to assist registered cooperative societies in the state at all times while urging the members of the state cooperative society to be accountable through audit in what is going on in their various Local Government Area in other to show that they are truly working in promoting various business enterprises in their domain.

Also speaking, Country Director Of Cooperators without Borders in Nigeria, Mr. Idorenyin Ekpo, expressed satisfaction over the gathering of the stakeholders’ meeting adding that such a meeting should be done continuously in order to know the concerns of the members.

“We have so many positive things to achieve in this state through cooperatives if only we come together with one mind. We can work to achieve certain goals and objectives. As a state, we have so many cooperatives yet we have nothing to show. We must match-up with Governor Umo Eno’s Arise Agenda initiative to be able to drive positive results.

Mr. Ekpo, thanked the Governor for appointing someone that is familiar with the law to oversee the affairs of Cooperative society in the state for the benefit of the citizenry.

In various contributions, some of the stakeholders said that one of the major challenges that were facing was having asses to grant and loans with less interest rate, noting that such opportunities were very difficult to come by especially considering the present economic situation in the country.