Agric Minister Tasks Staff to Drive Cooperative Reform for Community Wealth
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has charged the Ministry’s staff to drive the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP), designed to foster community wealth, shared prosperity, and an inclusive cooperative ecosystem.
Speaking during a one day workshop and retreat for the staff of the Federal Department of Cooperative held at Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) Complex in Abuja recently, Sen. Abdullahi stated that the initiative is a comprehensive home-grown blueprint designed to position cooperative movement as a central driver of food security, job creation, and inclusive growth under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President
He disclosed that, ‘’around the world, cooperatives have lifted millions out of poverty, expanded access to finance and built strong community resilience
‘’Nigeria can’t afford to be behind, that is why we must reform, revamp and reposition cooperative sector to meet the demands of the present and future’’, he added.
According to the Minister, the key components for the transformation of the cooperative sector includes; policy and regulatory reforms to improve governance, accountability and ease of conducting comprehensive business, transforming cooperative registrations through digitalization of both the federal and state levels.
Other crucial elements he added are: capacity building for cooperators, cooperative officers, service providers focusing on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and institution development through strengthening Federal Department of Cooperative.
In a statement issued by
Ogbuagu Charity Chika, on behalf of the Ministry’s Head of Information,
Abdullahi stressed that the retreat would provide an opportunity to resolve internal differences, build synergy, and reposition the department as the true engine room for Cooperative Development in Nigeria.
He maintained that it would also deepen staff understanding and ownership of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP), ‘’ensuring that together, we build a stronger and more impactful cooperative sector in Nigeria’’.
The Minister appealed that ‘’this retreat will be turning point, let it be the day when every staff member from the Federal Directors down to the recently recruited officers make a commitment: we are one team, serving one vision for one Nigeria’’.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, appealed to the staff, ‘’embrace this golden opportunity which aims at strengthening the bonds among all cadres of staff and officers’’.
Earlier, the Director, Federal Department of Cooperatives, Alhaji Idris Sani said that the RH –CRRP would strengthen the cooperative federation of Nigeria (CFN) as an umbrella body for the cooperative movement in Nigeria, among others.
