About 12 per cent of the global population, according to International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is engaged in one of the three million cooperatives worldwide, providing stable employment and work opportunities for 280 million people that account for about 10% of the world’s workforce.





The Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdulahi, made it known in Kaduna on Tuesday, at the flag-off ceremony of the National Intensive Training/workshop for Trustees, Management Committees and Managers of Cooperative Societies in Nigeria.





With the above statistics, he explained, "the Renewed Hope Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR recognizes cooperative societies' crucial role in driving economic growth, social development, and community empowerment. Hence, the priority given to reforming and revamping the sector. Indeed, this is one of his campaign promises and we are actualising it with vigour and a patriotic sense of duty and obligation to our citizens."





To meet the expectations of revitalizing the sector, Abdullahi stated that the government is committed to providing capacity-building and development opportunities for cooperative society leaders and managers in the 36 States of the Federation including the FCT, saying that the training flag-off is a testament to that commitment.





He explained that as the government embarked on the Renewed Hope Agenda for the cooperative sector, they are serious about overhauling the system through their reform and revamp program, adding that they aimed to bring innovation by renovating first, revitalizing the sector to restore confidence in the masses and bringing back the glory of the cooperative movement as a force to reckon with in socio-economic development in Nigeria.





"The reform and revamp will focus on review and amendments of the Nigeria Cooperative Act to bring it up to date with global best practices and our local realities; development of regulatory framework to ensure compliance and due diligence in management of cooperatives; robust stakeholder mapping and analysis to guarantee participation; and monitoring strategies to weed out fake and corrupt cooperative societies who steal and scam innocent citizens.





"Indeed, the days of fake cooperative societies is gone and we are taking measures to bring sanity. Very soon the National Council on Cooperative Affairs will be convened to bring synergy, collaboration and partnership with the States Cooperative ecosystem," he further explained.





The Minister assured that the reform shall include very robust and all-inclusive human capital development for which they are kick-starting here today.





Abdullahi said that the training would provide the participants with the requisite skills and knowledge to effectively manage and lead their cooperative societies, stressing that it is expected that they all will be gaining valuable insights into enhanced their understanding of cooperative principles, leadership, and governance.





He urged the participants to take full advantage of the training opportunity, advising them to work together to revitalize the cooperative sector and restore its glory as a force for socio-economic development in Nigeria and the leading giant they used to be in Africa.





The Provost, Federal Cooperative College, Kaduna, Dr. Ibrahim Awwal, expressed confidence that the training programme would provide the participants the opportunity to begin a journey that they would be confident will equip them with the essential tools, knowledge, and strategies needed to advance their cooperative and strengthen the communities they serve.





He noted that cooperatives are pillars of economic empowerment, social cohesion, and sustainable development, saying, "on today's rapidly evolving global economy, cooperative societies have proven themselves as vital instruments of change, contributing significantly to economic resilience, poverty alleviation, and community-driven development.