WorldStage Newsonline– The Federal Government of Nigeria has commenced the distribution of farm inputs to members of the National Agricultural Cooperative Apexes.
Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, speaking during the distribution of the inputs, in Abuja said it would enhance food security and job creation among others.
He said the gesture was a message of hope that the cooperative sector would be reformed, rebranded and revived.
Abdullahi said the cooperative laws were obsolete, not updated, and had not taken note of the recent dynamics.
The minister said that the cooperative was governed by trust, mutual benefits and not by self-interest.
“It means that you must be tolerant, accommodating and be ready to allow someone get food out of the plate,” he said.
He said the trust deficit was one of the reasons why cooperative had not grown in Nigeria compared to other countries.
Abdullahi appealed to the leaders of the sector to change the narrative to suit the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
The minister said that a lot has to be done to rebuild the cooperative sector.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Temitope Fashedemi, said the initiative was in line with President Tinubu’s mandate to ensure food security, poverty eradication, and economic growth.
Fashedemi was represented by Federal Director of Cooperatives, Mr Idris Sanni.
In his remarks, the President, Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, Chief Tajudeen Ayeola, said that cooperative was an instrument of development.
Ayeola, who said the Cooperative Movement of Kenya had been contributing between 40 per cent to 43 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Kenya, added that Nigeria could do better.
He said the cooperative contribution in Nigeria was not captioned in the GDP.
Ayeola said that the issue of gross deficit and sharp practices by some members was something that was over estimated.
“People think that it is the movement that is responsible for it, cooperative movement is well structured and regulated,” he said.
He said that those involved in sharp practices were not registered members of the cooperatives.
Ayeola said that government has a lot to do by coming up with programmes and paying more attention to the cooperative movement.
At the event, improved seeds and fish feeds were distributed to the cooperative leaders.
