Background of the Study
In order to get a clear picture of the subject matter it is
imperative to defined cooperative. ICA Statement on the cooperative
defines cooperative as an autonomous association of persons economic,
social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and
democratically-controlled enterprise.
However, primary cooperative which is the subject matter is
defined as a society which has as its object the promotion of the
socio-economic interest of its members through a common enterprise
managed in accordance with cooperative principles. A primary
cooperative society must have at least ten individuals if it is an
auxiliary cooperative and six persons if it is a productive or
industrial cooperative. Each of these must have qualified for
membership (NCSA, 1993).
Primary cooperatives are basically established to meet member’s
social-economic need. The operations of primary societies permits the
people who live in the same locality with the same goals and aspiration
to go into synergy in order to actualize such goals collectively
(Ijere, 1998).
The prospect of primary cooperative in promoting member’s economic
welfare cannot be overemphasis sequel to the economic benefits arising
from membership of primary societies: primary cooperatives in this
regard pursue mutually beneficial, social and economic interest,
provide goods and services to each other and the general public in the
most cost effective way, prevent exploitation of the weaker members of
the society by bringing them together to help themselves, protect the
rights of the people as producers and consumers of goods and services,
and promote mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence among the
people of the community in which such primary cooperative is located.
The economic results of establishing primary societies arise out
of the operation of a society that is jointly own through synergy and
the gains of such enterprise is distributed in such manner as would
avoid one member gaining at the expense of the others. Primary
cooperatives have been recognised as a veritable instrument for the
promotion of member economic welfare owing to its ability in mobilizing
and organising people of the same economic and social aspiration into a
common enterprise or primary societies therefore becomes very
appropriate and suitable for improving the economic welfare of people
through a common and collective enterprise that is people oriented
(Okoh, 2003).
The prospect of primary cooperative in promoting members economic
welfare cannot be overemphasis sequel to the economic benefits arising
from being a member of such society. It is against this background that
the researcher deemed the subject matter worthy of investigation.
Statement of the problem
Primary cooperatives have the potentials to boost the economic
capacity of its members by mobilizing savings and granting soft loans
to it members, providing other services as well as investment
opportunities for its members (Okoh, 2003).
But inspite of this laudable prospect of primary cooperative in
promoting member welfare, membership of primary cooperatives in the
area of study is loe and insignificant, as such, doubt is expressed
about the prospect of primary cooperative in promoting members welfare
in the area understudy. This is so because if indeed primary
cooperatives promotes members welfae as opined by (Okoh, 2003) then why
is the membership of primary cooperative low and insignificant and
their impact vague and obscure in the study area? It is in this light
that the subject matter of this research is seen as a problem worthy of
investigation.