Be accountable to establishment laws, Abia charges cooperative societies

Ogbonnaya Ndukwe I Monday, March 18, 2024

 

ABA, Nigeria- Abia State governent has pledged to work with responsive cooperative societies applying quality measures to assist the masses overcome the current hardships facing the nation.

This is as it warned such groups not to cash in on the people’s plight to further put them into problems of losing their investments while seeking assistance.

The state director/Chief registrar of Cooperatives, in the ministry of women affairs and poverty alleviation, Mr Ariwodo Paul Chidiebere, gave the charge during a sensitization forum organized by a micro finance cooperative society, in Aba.

He noted that many individuals have been deprived of their hard earned money by groups posing as finance companies, who make frivolous unattainable promises of percentage gains to be made on depositing certain amounts of cash, but soon after disappeared with such deposits without trace.

“While we get involved in monitoring the activities of cooperative societies, including microfinance groups in the state, is to ensure that the operate under approved conditions.

“Many times, we hear people coming together unofficially to commence contributions with promises of very high interest on deposits, and people have joined such groups and lost their deposits when the sponsors fail to meet up, that is why we monitor and scrutinize every cooperative society to ensure that they operate in line with their approved by-laws.”

Mr Ariwodo, reminded interested participants in such businesses, to always crosscheck with his office spread across the 17 council areas of the state, to authenticate the genuineness of registered cooperative societies, before getting involved with them.

In a lecture on the importance of determining the success or failure of any business venture, a resource person, Mr Akachukwu Chukwudi, said businesses ought to have profitability, to ensure that it’s sponsors benefit from it’s operation, have (cash) liquidity in order to carry out it’s operational activities, as well as leverage that will make the outfit to grow.

Mr Kenneth Umunnakwe, managing director of the sponsoring Ausca Micro finance cooperative society, said his organization was being guided by internationally agreed principles of cooperative financing and monitored by the state government.

Umunnakwe, promised to ensure that members investments in the business, established 24 years ago, will be secured, stressing that with the current hardships in the country, programmes aimed at assisting needy families to buy provisions including foodstuffs and household items with ease, have been introduced with little profit margin and urged the public to utilize the opportunity to help themselves and their families, appropriately.