ONE DAY ANNUAL SEMINAR FOR COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN LAGOS STATE. ‘’BUILDING A FUTURE THROUGH COOPERATIVES’’

That was the theme chosen for the maiden annual edition of the 1 day seminar for Surulere Cooperative Societies in conjunction with Surulere multipurpose cooperative union held on Thursday, 25^th  April, 2013, at the Media Centre Hall, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The Banner at  the seminar.

The motivating program started at about 10:30am to 3:40pm. It was an eye-opener to all cooperators present at the event.

After prayer, the introduction of officials and resource persons by our amiable area officer, Mrs. Sulaimon Omobolanle, who was equally the MC for the day, the stage was set for the welcome address.

Mrs. Sulaimon Omobolanle the MC at the seminar.


WELCOME ADDRESS -By Mrs. Ibrahim Z.O.

Mrs. Ibrahim Z.O. is the Asst. Director of Cooperative Services in Lagos State. She raised our expectations with what the seminar held for us that day.

LECTURE 1

COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT, ADMINISTRATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION-By Rev. Ogungbemile.

Rev.Ogungbemile defined a cooperative as an association of people(both rich and poor) to do BIG things and defined planning as deciding today what you wish to achieve tomorrow.

Baba explained that The Management Committee (made up of the president, secretary and the treasurer), who are elected by members every two years, MUST meet monthly to review the operation of the society and develop plans and budgets for the society.

They also have the power to appoint other committees, like the Supervisory, Finance, Loan, etc, committees.

Duration of Management Committee: One of the members present at this seminar asked if the Management Committee can serve beyond the allotted two year tenure if  the members so appreciate the way they run the society  because they have been excellent in all ramification.

Answer: The response from ALL those present and by Rev. Ogungbemile is a capital 'NO'. It was concluded that fresh elections MUST be conducted and new Management Committee take over the affairs of the society. However, it should be noted that during elections, the member who served in a particular capacity can contest for another capacity within the management committee after the first 2 year tenor.

Rev. Ogungbemile also suggested that the best practice is for the Management committee to rotate other committee members either annually or as they may decide, so that all in the group can learn faster.

One interesting aspect of his practical lecture is that the Supervisory Committee ( 3 persons) should submit quarterly report to the Management Committee and always checkmate the excesses of the management committee since they have the power to recommend and summon the management committee.

He also gave a practical guide on how an agenda should look like for an AGM.

Again, the Rev. mentioned that Loan Committees(4/5 persons) MUST always interview those applying for loans to ascertain the purpose for which loan is applied for.

On conflict resolution, Rev. Ogungbemile stated that as explained in our by-laws, the person or leader whose responsibility it is to ensure harmony in the society must;

1.  Get the clear picture of the cause(s) of the conflict.
2.  Be determined in bringing a positive change to the bad situation and prevent it from degenerating to a more serious situation
3.  Be fair to all parties concerned.
4.  To some extent, have knowledge of human behaviour.
5.  Make two enemies work together on a project.

If, on the other hand, the conflict cannot be resolved within the society, the Area Officer should be invited. If the area officer cannot resolve the conflict to the satisfaction of the society, such conflict should be forwarded to the Office of the Director. (Using the words of Baba that day, he said, ‘I pray your conflicts should never go that far.’) I say AMEN to that.

I must confess that I learnt a lot from Rev. Ogungbemile

                                        LECTURE 2.
EQUITY PATRONAGE AND FINANCE ISSUES AMONG COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN NIGERIA- By. Dr. Akanni A.A. Dept. of Agric. Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye, Ogun State.

                                               Please, pardon the poor quality of this photo.

Dr. Akanni explained extensively on the academic perspective of the following:
 What a cooperative society is.
The types of cooperative societies in Nigeria;
Roles of cooperative organisations in developing economies;
Financing cooperative societies;

Equity patronage and Sharing of surplus earnings/disposal of surpluses, etc. (This is the area most of us as members are really interested in since at the annual AGM, we expect to receive our brown envelopes and item 7).

However, on sharing of surpluses, Dr. Akanni (with the assistance of the area officer, Mrs. Sulaimon Omobolanle), mentioned that according to the by-law, 60% is the  mandated dividend for members who patronised (borrowed from) the society during the year under review and 40% to those who just saved with the association.

When explaining Equity Sharing Index, Mrs. Sulaimon Omobolanle mentioned that before sharing dividend from surplus made annually, the area officer must go through the account records of the society and going by the by-law, 25% surplus is saved in another secured account as RESERVED FUND, 2.5% as EDUCATIONAL FUND (for training, seminars, etc), maximum of 5% for HONORARIUM (saying well done to management committee officials) and 10% for AGM-annually.

These are some of the important points that some of us as members may not be aware of before now. Thanks to this seminar organisers.

                                                                                                LECTURE 3
 HOUSING DELIVERY FOR COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES (Public-Private Partnership). By. Arc. S.A. Bobadoye.

This speaker, who described himself as a realist, believes in what is possible. For him (as I equally believe), cooperative societies can assist every member to own affordable houses delivered in reasonable time.He spoke extensively and professionally on the following:

1.Housing delivery components like defining the scope of the housing scheme, land acquisition, concept development, project finance and project launching/execution.

2.Method of housing delivery-where housing cooperative societies is one of the components, especially a Multipurpose Cooperative Society taking up this bold step.

3.Their proposal that all cooperative societies should set up a Cooperative HOMES LIMITED to conceptualise, develop, arrange financing and structure the management of the project ( this should be done through a public/private partnership).

As Arc. S.A. Bobadoye was concluding his lecture that day, he warned that on no account should the savings of members be used to finance or develop housing projects for anybody. That cooperative societies should rather arrange for a separate scheme where members can contribute for the purpose of housing development.

A cross-section of cooperators at the event.

CONCLUSION:
To conclude the educative seminar on that fateful day, all present were handed their certificate of participation coupled with a sumptuous lunch pack.

                           Sample of the certificate of attendance awarded to all cooperators who attended the seminar.

A cross section of cooperators from  Fountain School Multipurpose Cooperative Society, happily displaying their certificates.

VOTE OF THANKS: Personally, I am (I equally believe that all those who were present at this seminar), heartily grateful to the Surulere Cooperative Area Officers- , Mrs. Sulaimon Omobolanle, Aunt Doyin and their other crew members for making this educative platform an eye-opener to all of us. We are grateful and we love you. May God bless you, AMEN.

QUESTION TO PONDER: As we left the venue that day, one interesting question was on my mind. The question is this:
‘Why is extra money made annually at all cooperative societies referred to as ‘SURPLUS’ and not ‘PROFIT’?
If you think you know the answer, please kindly leave the answer on the ‘COMMENT’ space below this page.

Thank you.

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