The Federal Government has taken a significant step toward restructuring Nigeria’s cooperative sector, inaugurating the National Steering Committee for the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme on Tuesday in Abuja.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, presided over the inauguration, describing it as a major milestone in implementing the five-year programme running from 2025 to 2030.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Abdullahi said the programme would reposition cooperatives as active vehicles for food security, job creation, poverty reduction, financial inclusion and social empowerment across the country.
“The programme seeks to transform cooperatives into modern, digitally enabled, transparent, productive and investment-ready institutions capable of driving national development,” the minister stated.
The committee, which draws membership from key ministries, agencies, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, will serve as the apex coordinating and policy-guiding body for the programme. It is charged with ensuring the programme’s objectives translate into measurable results across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Dr. Mohammed Abdulkadir, the Federal Director of Cooperatives, who also addressed the gathering, noted that millions of Nigerians depend directly and indirectly on cooperative enterprises for their livelihoods. He acknowledged that the sector has long been weighed down by weak governance structures, outdated laws, inadequate financing and poor access to markets and technology.
According to Dr. Abdulkadir, the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme rests on seven pillars: governance reforms, financing, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion and strategic partnerships. Together, he explained, these pillars provide a road map for building a transparent, accountable and globally competitive cooperative sector.
The minister tasked committee members with advancing sector digitalisation through three key instruments: the National Cooperative Smart Registry, the Cooperative Verification Number and the Cooperative Member Identification Number. Mr. Abdullahi also called on the committee to facilitate the establishment of a Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and to promote agricultural value chains through Farmers Producer Cooperative Organisations and Comparative Cooperative Farms.
Targeted empowerment initiatives for youths, women, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups were also highlighted as priorities under the programme, which was approved by the National Council on Cooperative Affairs and aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The success of this programme will be measured by cooperatives strengthened, farmers empowered, jobs created, enterprises established, citizens financially included and communities transformed,” Mr. Abdullahi added.
