Nigeria’s Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has flagged off the South-West Zonal Engagement of the Ministerial Advocacy Tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria’s Share Capital Mobilisation and the Cooperative Sector Digitalisation Drive.
The engagement is aimed at repositioning the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security, job creation, and poverty reduction, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the national aspiration of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.
Speaking at the event held at the LASCOFED Multipurpose Hall, Ikeja, Lagos State, the Minister said the engagement marks the formal commencement of two major initiatives under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP) 2025–2030, as approved at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs (NCCA) in March 2026.
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Sen. Sabi Abdullahi stated: “Commencing this tour in the South-West is a symbolic return to the roots of the cooperative movement in Nigeria. This is where it all began in 1937 with Gbedun Cooperative, and it is fitting that we relaunch our reform agenda here.”
He said that the tour also signals the kickoff of nationwide sensitisation for the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, designed to provide accessible and affordable financial services to cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youth, women, and persons with special needs.
To avoid past pitfalls where cooperative banks lost their identity, the Minister said that “the new bank has a deliberate ownership structure.”
The structure provides for 65 per cent controlling equity reserved for cooperative societies, unions, federations, and individual cooperators to preserve cooperative identity and control.
It also includes 30 per cent non-controlling equity open to private institutional investors, development finance institutions, impact investors, and qualified individuals, as well as 5 per cent equity participation for employees of the bank and affiliated cooperative enterprises to ensure institutional commitment.
He emphasised that the initiative is government-enabled but not government-funded, with no Treasury Single Account (TSA) funds involved.
“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security will provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, and regulatory facilitation only,” the Minister stressed.
Addressing the lack of credible data in the sector, Dr. Abdullahi also disclosed that the ministry is introducing two foundational digital identity systems.
The Cooperative Verification Number (CVN) will be assigned to every registered cooperative society to verify genuine cooperatives, eliminate ghost societies, improve regulation, and boost investor confidence. The Cooperative Members Identification Number (CoopID) will be issued to every cooperator in Nigeria to enhance financial inclusion, traceability, and access to financing.
Both systems, he said, “will be integrated with the National Identity Number (NIN) architecture to harmonise with national data systems and serve as the data backbone for the proposed Cooperative Bank.”
The Minister outlined the seven pillars of the RH-CRRP 2025–2030 to include; cooperative governance and institutional reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, Cooperative Sector Digitalisation and Data Management Systems, and capacity building, Cooperative education, and human capital development.
Other pillars include; value chain development, enterprise growth and market access, inclusion and empowerment of youth, women, and persons with special needs, as well as strategic partnerships, investments, and global cooperative competitiveness.
“The Cooperative Bank will serve as the entry point into a broader ecosystem through the proposed Cooperative Trust & Investment Society of Nigeria, CoopTrust.
“This extends investments into housing, transport, retail, agro-processing, and digital platforms for our cooperatives,” Dr Abdullahi said.
He noted that the South-West also pioneered the Cooperative Bank of Western Nigeria, underscoring the region’s legacy in cooperative finance.
“Under RH-CRRP 2025–2030, we are ending the era of dormant cooperatives. We are building a movement that creates wealth, jobs, and dignity for millions of Nigerians,” the Minister emphasised.
He urged cooperative leaders to mobilise members for the Digitalisation process.
The Minister also called on investors and development partners to view the initiative as a long-term national economic transformation platform, urging cooperators to “reclaim the strength, relevance, and economic power of the cooperative movement in Nigeria.”
“Together, we can build a cooperative sector that is inclusive, structured, digitally driven, financially empowered, and contributes significantly to national development,” he said.
In her remarks, the Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, said cooperatives are not relics of the past but strategic institutions for the future.
She noted that globally, more than one billion people are members of cooperatives, while the top 300 cooperatives generate over two trillion dollars annually and drive substantial shares of agricultural production, housing finance, retail distribution, and community banking.
Emphasising the need for Nigeria to reposition its cooperative ecosystem as a critical component of national economic transformation, Mrs Ambrose-Medebem stressed the importance of a nationally coordinated cooperative data architecture to provide reliable statistics on GDP growth, employment, and agricultural productivity.
She said that enhanced digital interoperability between cooperative registries, financial institutions, and regulatory agencies is essential to improve transparency, reduce fraud risks, strengthen investor confidence, and facilitate access to financing.
Warning that access to finance without strong governance undermines sustainability, she called for intensified capacity-building for cooperative leaders in financial management, internal controls, cooperative law, digital bookkeeping, audit compliance, and strategic planning, backed by regular inspections and transparent reporting.
In his vote of thanks, the Federal Director of Cooperatives Department, Dr. Mohammed Bashir Abdulkadir said the discussions reaffirmed the bright future of the cooperative movement.
Abdulkadir noted that through collective commitment, strong governance, and digital transformation, the sector can become a major force for inclusive economic growth and national development.
He lauded Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi for his commitment to repositioning the cooperative sector under the RH-CRRP.
He thanked the Lagos State Government and other stakeholders for the successful flag-off of the South-West Ministuerial Tour.
