ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1      Background of the Study
Despite successive government’s efforts in reducing poverty, its situation in Nigeria is quite worrisome as the story of poverty alleviation seems to be gloomy over the years (Abbas, 2013).  It is therefore not surprising that poor people in Nigeria are left vulnerable to all kinds of inhumane treatment and exploitation by both agents of state and private authorities from which they seek for assistance. Unfortunately, since poor people lack independence, power and voice which to rely on for daily survival, they become cheap for all kinds of political and economic exploitation. The gravity of poverty and its situation is however dynamic across the globe. For example, the number of people living in poverty in Africa and Nigeria inclusive is unfortunately on the increase (MDG, 2015). The poverty trend in Nigeria is further aggravated due to lack of basic needs for decent life; access to clean or portable water, healthcare services, education opportunities, shelter, housing (MDG, 2013, UNDP, 2015).
Considering the seriousness of the matter, successive political regimes have come up with one strategy or the other to alleviate poverty in the country. However, none of the government policies seems to be yielding positive result as poverty situation till date remain pervasive (Abbas, 2013). Such poverty alleviation strategies used by the government to tackle poverty in the country include micro-credit loans, skill acquisition, training, job creation etc. The reality in Nigeria, however is that most of the poverty alleviation strategies do not recognize people as supreme in its policy making or implementation. Most of the strategies of poverty alleviation are prepared within the top executives and are later introduced to the public. Any control which the ordinary people might have enjoyed is obviously indirect as only top executives who do not really understand the situation of the ordinary poor make such policies and strategies.
It is in view of such failures of policies and strategies by successive governments that strategic alternatives are desired towards addressing poverty situation in the country. Sizya (2001) for instance found that cooperative societies paly significant role in efficient marketing and distribution of goods and services especially for small scale farmers and the rural poor people. In terms of policy choice or making important decisions, cooperative societies provides voice to its members as it creates social, economic and political structure to represent their collective interest (Ezekiel, 2014). Other benefits of cooperative societies that are achieved according to Sizya (2001) and Fapojuwo, Alarima and Abiona (2012) also include improvement in member’s income earned and other economic benefits, facilitation of social welfare among its members, creating job opportunities, financial inclusion, educational support for members and their children and women and youth’s participation in economic activities, among others.
Looking through the activities of cooperative societies, the Nigerian system which is fundamentally democratic in nature must also embody the wishes and aspirations of the people. In the case of poverty alleviation efforts the situation should not be in anyway different as efforts made by government have failed over time. For instance in the new thinking Sapru (2008:136) emphasised that demands for policy action are usually made on political system by different constituents including civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, pressure groups, political parties, citizens, etc. Thus, since poverty still remains a serious menace in Nigeria despite various efforts made by successive governments to reduce it, the role that such non-governmental organizations and bodies like cooperative societies play in poverty alleviation in recent time becomes imperative.