By Stella Odueme
The federal government has expressed commitment to revolutionize cooperative societies through digitalization, aiming to modernize operations, ensure transparent financial reporting, maintain accurate member/asset records, and improve governance across more than 30,000 registered cooperatives.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen.Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, who announced this initiative in Abuja, at the Stakeholders’ Meeting on the Review of the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act, Cap N98 LFN 2004, highlighted that digitalization would bring efficiency, integrity, inclusion, and sustainable growth to the sector.
“Digitalization will strengthen cooperative institutions, increase trust, improve service delivery, reduce fraud, and unlock new opportunities across the cooperative economy,” Dr. Abdullahi stated.
According to a statement by the Head, Department of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, on Friday, he revealed that cooperatives would become a vital instrument for achieving capital mobilization, inclusive growth, and shared wealth creation when properly structured and supported.
As the driver of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP), Dr. Abdullahi emphasized that the programme aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision to mobilize all sectors of the economy towards building a One Trillion Dollar Economy by 2030.
The Minister described the RH-CRRP as a bold and transformational national framework designed to position cooperatives as a tool for community wealth creation, poverty eradication, and inclusive growth.
He noted that key areas of focus include digital registration, national cooperative database, digital membership identification system, electronic documentation, administration of cooperative societies, filings, and reporting.
Dr. Abdullahi maintained that “Cooperatives must no longer be treated as a side activity. They are strategic institutions capable of mobilizing capital, empowering citizens, creating jobs, driving agricultural productivity, and strengthening the national economy.”
He acknowledged the efforts of CFN and International IDEA but emphasized that, by mandate and structure, this initiative should be led by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), the supervising Ministry responsible for cooperative development in Nigeria.
He revealed that “the Ministry has fixed a date for a broader harmonization process, consolidating the reviewed output from the Stakeholders’Meeting and the Ministry’s parallel work into a final national document”
“This document will align with the International Cooperative Alliance – Africa Model Cooperative Law and the Africa Ministerial Declaration and Action Plan, which Nigeria co-signed with other African Ministers in Kenya during the 14th Africa Ministerial Cooperative Conference (AMCCO) in October 2025”.
He further revealed that the IDEA will join the Coalition of the Willing (CoW), a group of credible partners supporting the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP).
He lauded the efforts of the critical stakeholders and the Federal Department of Cooperatives
In her remarks, the President Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Mrs. Hannatu Mershak stated that “Digitization is not just innovation for innovation’s sake. It is for efficiency, for integrity, for inclusion, and for sustainable growth. “
She added that the initiative would strengthen cooperative institutions, increase trust, improve service delivery, reduce fraud, as well as unlock new opportunities across the cooperative ecosystem
