By Julius Peter, Abuja
The President of the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Mrs. Hannatu Mershak, has called for stronger collaboration, institutional reforms, improved access to finance and greater participation of women and youths in the cooperative movement, saying cooperatives have a critical role to play in promoting peace, sustainable development and Nigeria’s economic transformation.
Mershak made the call during an interaction with journalists at the 10th National Cooperative Summit, Exhibition and Awards organised by the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria.
The summit, with the theme, “Cooperative Reform: Unlocking Cooperative Potentials for Peace, Sustainable Development and Economic Transformation,” brought together cooperative leaders, government officials, representatives of states, development partners, private-sector stakeholders, professionals, researchers and members of cooperative societies from different parts of the country.
The summit also featured dedicated engagements on youth and women in cooperatives, with emphasis on economic empowerment, leadership, access to finance, skills development and increased participation in the cooperative movement.
Mershak said the major message from the summit was the need for cooperative societies across the country to return to their respective organisations with fresh ideas, knowledge and practical strategies capable of improving the lives of their members.
According to her, the gathering was not merely for speeches and ceremonies but an opportunity for knowledge-sharing, experience exchange and collective action.
“The take-home message from this event is that we should go back and improve on what we are already doing. A lot of issues have been raised during the discussions, and a lot of knowledge and ideas have been shared.
“We believe that by the time we go back, all the knowledge we have gathered from this gathering will help us to do more in our various cooperatives and impact the lives of our members more,” she said.
The CFN president explained that cooperatives could serve as powerful instruments for peace-building and community development because of their emphasis on self-help, collective ownership and shared responsibility.
She said when people pooled their resources together to address common economic challenges, they developed a stronger sense of belonging and responsibility towards one another.
“Cooperatives are a means of attaining peace, sustainable development and community development. Cooperative is about self-help. When we pool our resources and are able to do things that help us improve our livelihoods, everyone has a stake.
“If everybody is involved, everybody will be doing something that will bring common progress, and there will be stability. Where there is stability, peace is sure and certain,” Mershak said.
She added that sustained collaboration among cooperative societies and their members could contribute to peaceful coexistence and the creation of a more stable environment across communities.
Mershak also identified access to finance as one of the major challenges confronting women in the cooperative movement, stressing the need for stronger partnerships with regulators and financial institutions to make funding more accessible.
She said women would be given a dedicated platform during the summit to discuss challenges affecting their participation and economic advancement.
“As a woman and a president, we know that women have always been at a disadvantage financially. There is going to be a forum for women, and we are going to use that opportunity to share the common things that affect us, especially access to finance, because that is a great challenge to many women,” she said.
According to her, CFN would engage regulators and relevant stakeholders to explore ways of making financial opportunities available to women faster and with fewer barriers.
She stressed that improved access to finance would enable women to establish, expand and sustain businesses while contributing more effectively to household and national economic development.
The CFN president expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the attention being given to the cooperative movement as part of the Federal Government’s broader economic reform agenda.
She also commended the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, for recognising the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria as the apex body of the cooperative movement.
Mershak said the recognition had helped to clarify the Federation’s role and strengthened its institutional standing within the country’s cooperative sector.
She also expressed appreciation to the Plateau State Governor and Patron of CFN, Barrister Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, for his continued support, as well as the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry who represented him at the summit.
She further commended the Federal Director of Cooperatives for his guidance and support.
Mershak acknowledged the contributions of partners including the International Cooperative Mortgage Bank, Parkway, WACSI NODE, EGLAI and Seamfix, as well as prospective partners whose collaboration, she said, had contributed to revitalising the Federation.
“Partnership is fundamental to the cooperative philosophy, and we do not take it for granted,” she said.
The CFN president described the National Cooperative Summit as a national platform for dialogue, learning and collective action rather than a ceremonial event.
She said the expectation was that the ideas and resolutions generated at the summit would translate into stronger cooperative institutions, improved services to members and measurable improvements in the lives of Nigerians.
Mershak said the theme of the summit was deliberately chosen because the cooperative movement was at a critical point in its development and needed to continuously review its structures, systems and strategies.
“Reform is not a rejection of our heritage; it strengthens the principles on which the movement was built while adapting them to present realities,” she said.
According to her, cooperatives have the capacity to mobilise capital, create employment, reduce poverty, deepen financial inclusion and sustain livelihoods.
She noted that cooperatives enable people to pool resources and share ownership, thereby creating a sense of belonging, solidarity and trust.
“When properly organised, transparently managed and adequately supported, cooperatives create employment, reduce poverty, deepen financial inclusion and sustain livelihoods.
“The movement therefore sees itself not merely as a beneficiary of development, but as an active partner in Nigeria’s economic transformation,” she said.
Mershak said the future of the cooperative movement belonged largely to the younger generation, urging cooperative societies to create opportunities for young people to acquire skills, understand cooperative principles and assume leadership responsibilities.
She urged youths not to view cooperatives as organisations of the past but as platforms for innovation, business development, economic organisation and national development.
“Do not see cooperatives as organisations of the past. See them as platforms to organise, innovate, build businesses and contribute to national development,” she told the youths.
She equally stressed that women must remain central to the cooperative agenda, noting that women with access to skills, finance, networks and leadership opportunities could make significant contributions to their families, communities and the wider economy.
The CFN president disclosed that efforts were underway to review the country’s cooperative law, which she described as obsolete in some respects.
She said the review process had received significant commitment from partners, including International IDEA, expressing optimism that it would produce the desired outcome.
She explained that updating the legal framework was necessary to ensure that the cooperative movement remained relevant to contemporary realities and global cooperative practices.
Mershak also announced that the Federation had achieved one of the key objectives she set for herself upon assuming office — securing a permanent and functional secretariat for CFN in Abuja.
She described the development as more than the acquisition of an office, saying it would provide a foundation for effective coordination, documentation, communication, institutional memory and stakeholder engagement.
According to her, the development represented an important step towards making CFN a truly national institution.
She also reflected on the recent International Cooperative Alliance-Africa by-election following the death of the Federation’s former president.
Mershak said CFN nominated a candidate who emerged successful in the election process, although the outcome did not fully meet the expectations of the Federation.
She said the experience had nevertheless provided important lessons, assuring that CFN would continue to build its capacity and strengthen its international engagement.
The CFN president urged members of the cooperative movement to avoid fragmentation and work towards greater unity across geographical zones and institutional levels.
She called for stronger cooperation among cooperative societies, unions and apex bodies, as well as improved transparency, accountability, technological innovation, access to finance and human capital development.
Mershak stressed that the success of CFN could not be achieved by the president or executive council alone, but required the commitment of every federation, union, apex body, cooperative society, partner and individual cooperator.
“Our strength is in our numbers, our power is in our unity, and our impact will depend on our collective action,” she said.
She urged participants to ensure that the summit did not end with speeches, applause and photographs but with practical commitments, partnerships and concrete actions.
Also speaking at the summit, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, disclosed that the Federal Government was introducing major reforms aimed at sanitising, professionalising and digitally transforming the cooperative sector.
Abdullahi said the reform would give cooperative directors greater responsibility over their respective registration windows while introducing a new digital registration and identification system for cooperative societies and their members.
Under the proposed system, cooperative societies would receive a Cooperative Verification Number, while individual members would be assigned a Cooperative Identification Number (Coop ID).
The minister said the initiative was designed to eliminate fraudulent practices and restore public confidence in the cooperative movement.
He noted that cases had occurred where cooperative societies mobilised substantial funds from members but were later unable to provide members with access to their money.
According to him, the new digital identity system would help create greater transparency and accountability within the sector.
Abdullahi further disclosed that the government was working with credit-reporting institutions to ensure that members who default on cooperative loans could not simply move from one cooperative society to another to evade repayment.
He explained that the proposed system would enable cooperative societies to have better information about the financial obligations and credit history of their members.
The minister said the reforms were based partly on successful cooperative models in other countries and were intended to strengthen the credibility and sustainability of Nigeria’s cooperative movement.
Abdullahi also emphasised the need to professionalise the management of cooperative societies through human capital development and specialised training.
He said the cooperative model differed from conventional business models because its primary focus was not profit maximisation but the welfare and collective interests of members.
According to him, cooperative societies could be established by members to pool resources over several years for specific purposes, such as education, housing, agriculture or other livelihood needs.
He said it was therefore important for trained professionals who understood cooperative principles to manage the institutions.
The minister disclosed that the Institute of Cooperative Professionals (ICOPRO) had been approved to help provide the necessary professional capacity for the sector.
Abdullahi also identified cooperative societies as important vehicles for strengthening Nigeria’s agricultural value chain and achieving food security.
He said cooperatives could help farmers and other members access agricultural inputs collectively at lower costs by purchasing in bulk.
According to him, cooperative societies are not primarily established to make profits from members, but to reduce costs and improve the welfare of members.
He explained that an input that could cost significantly more in the open market could be obtained at a lower price when purchased collectively through a cooperative.
The minister said the Federal Government was therefore working to strengthen cooperative societies through digital identity, training and access to agricultural inputs.
He expressed confidence that a reformed cooperative sector could contribute significantly to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), citing evidence from other countries where strong cooperative movements had become important components of national economies.
On the legal framework, Abdullahi clarified that the existing cooperative law was not necessarily completely obsolete but contained provisions that needed to be updated to reflect contemporary realities and international best practices.
He said the proposed review would address issues including cooperative identity and the protection of the term “cooperative.”
According to him, the revised law would ensure that organisations could not improperly use the word “cooperative” or its abbreviations to create a false impression that they were legitimate cooperative societies.
He said the reform would also strengthen the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria as the umbrella body of the movement.
The minister explained that every country needed an apex cooperative institution capable of coordinating and representing the interests of the movement.
He also disclosed plans to rehabilitate and reposition the National Centre for Cooperative Development to serve cooperative societies across the country.
The summit attracted government officials, cooperative leaders and members from different states, agriculture-sector stakeholders, representatives of the Federal Government, representatives of state governors, development partners, private-sector players and other well-wishers.
The broad consensus at the gathering was that Nigeria’s cooperative movement must evolve from traditional models into stronger, transparent, technology-driven and professionally managed institutions capable of supporting inclusive economic development.
Participants emphasised that with appropriate reforms, stronger regulation, improved access to finance and effective digital systems, cooperatives could become a major instrument for poverty reduction, job creation, agricultural development, financial inclusion and social stability.
The 10th National Cooperative Summit therefore ended with renewed calls for collective action, institutional strengthening and practical implementation of reforms designed to reposition cooperatives as strategic partners in Nigeria’s economic transformation.
