Rivers Civil Servants Float Cooperative Society

The Association of Senior Civil
Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Rivers State, Chapter ,has disclosed that the leadership of the association has already registered a cooperative society to cater for its membership welfare.
Speaking to The Tide in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the union state Chairman, Comrade Austin Jonah, said the cooperative society was registered with the sole aim of the association  to better the lots of its members.
Jonah urged members of the Union as senior civil servants in the service of the State government to take advantage of the platform created by the union’s executives with the registration of the cooperative society to assist themselves.
The ASCSN Chairman said the leadership of the union appreciates the critical importance of cooperatives in fostering sustainable livelihood among the union members with the determination of pushing back the frontiers of poverty and inequality within the union membership.
He said further that the essence of the union embarking on cooperative society registration was to create platform of self reliance through mutual self-help for its members , stressing that cooperatives have historically existed in all civilizations in different forms and structures to alleviate suffering of its members.
Jonah added that cooperatives provide over million jobs for the unemployed and cooperative enterprises playing significant economic and social roles in the life of its members and their respective communities.
He said the union chose to change its game plan because monthly stipend can no longer sustain the  union members, stressing that the registration of the cooperative society was to offer unique opportunity to the union members for economic and social inclusion with the view of strengthening and extend source of livelihood for them.
He further praised the determination of the state government of regular monthly salary payment to the workers despite the economic challenges.
Jonah said the union again thank the state government for liquidating the arrears of salaries owed by the immediate past administration in the state and further call on the government to look into some vital components of the salaries yet to be paid such as third party deductions, like pension  contribution scheme, union check up dues among other outstanding issues.

Philip Okparaji