The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has launched a nationwide advocacy tour in the Southwest to mobilise share capital for the proposed Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and drive digitisation across the cooperative sector.
The advocacy event, held at the Lagos State Cooperative Federation Multi-purpose Hall in Lagos, marked the first phase of the ministerial tour under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, urged cooperative societies to move beyond traditional savings and thrift activities toward becoming platforms for sustainable economic prosperity and business expansion.
According to the minister, the proposed Cooperative Bank of Nigeria will be owned and operated largely by cooperative organisations, with cooperators controlling 65 percent equity, while the remaining 35 percent will be open to individuals and businesses willing to invest in the sector.
Abdullahi explained that the reform initiative aligns with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reposition cooperatives as key drivers of economic growth and financial inclusion.
“What we are doing is the reform of the cooperative sector.
Cooperative remains one of the best platforms for business expansion. We have worked on this since 2014 because we want to get it right,” he said.
He disclosed that part of the reform agenda includes the institutionalisation and digital verification of all cooperative societies, adding that each cooperator would be assigned a verification number linked to their National Identification Number to improve monitoring and transparency.
The minister identified poor and unreliable data as one of the major setbacks affecting the cooperative sector, stressing the need for stronger governance structures and modern digital identity systems.
He further encouraged cooperative societies to embrace digital reforms to enhance poverty reduction, job creation, accountability and improved welfare for members.
Also speaking at the event, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperative, Trade and Investment, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, described the cooperative sector as critical to economic transformation and productivity growth.
She noted that cooperatives must evolve from conventional thrift systems into digitally driven platforms capable of creating jobs, boosting trust and improving accountability among members.
“In many advanced economies, cooperatives control a significant share of agricultural production and remain viable channels for citizen mobilisation, production aggregation and local enterprise development,” she said.
President of the Lagos State Cooperative Federation, Oladipo Shobule, represented by Ebun Akinfalaye, commended the Federal Government’s efforts to revive the Cooperative Bank initiative in Nigeria.
Goodwill messages were also delivered by representatives of the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, Southwest cooperative leaders and other strategic stakeholders, including Hannatu Mershak.
Written by Olusegun Haastrup