President Lists Co-operatives’ Benefits

President of Rivers State Co-operative Federation, Mr. Victor Alasia has said that co-operatives offer great opportunity for women and employees to improve their living standards.

Alasia who made the assertion at the 88th International Co-operative Day in Port Harcourt noted  that about 21,780 co-operative societies with a membership strength of 1.7 million people have so far registered in Rivers State.

He however, regretted that only 200 of the societies are active in Rivers State, adding that women have key role to play in cooperative activities.

According to him, “For women entrepreneurs, co-operatives are particularly attractive form of enterprise. By pooling their capital together, women are able to engage in income generating activities and organise their work in a flexible way that respects the multiple roles that women may have in society” he said.

In her lecture entitled; “The Role of co-operative in Women Empowerment” the head of department co-operative studies and management Federal Polytechnic Owerri, Dr. Lilian Ugwoezuonu regretted the low participation of women in co-operative activities in the developing countries and attributed it to gender discrimination.

Dr. Ugwoezuonu also said that the percentage of women involvement in agricultural cooperative is also lower than that of the men.

In her words, “In order to correct these imbalances and ensure the sustainability of co-operatives, it is necessary that women are empowered by their co-operative to perform in the expected capacities.”

In his presentation, Elder Christian Osas Ellah attributed the poor performances of co-operative societies in Rivers State to lack of adequate knowledge of co-operatives and its workings by the members and their leaders.

He also said that the dearth of experienced staff in co-operative management is also affecting the system.