By Eric Elezuo

The business of cooperatives has been taken to greater heights in Nigeria because of the top notch managerial abilities of Basorun Adebola Orolugbagbe, who sits atop the National Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria, the umbrella body of cooperative societies in the country. In this interview, the man reputed as always selflessly thinking about the betterment of others, speaks on the associations efforts at lifting 42 million Nigerians out of poverty among other sundry issues. Excerpts:

Could you please introduce yourself

My name is Basorun Adebola Orolugbagbe. I am the President of the National Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria. I am also the Founder and CEO of Coop Exchange Investment Trust and Credit Union Limited.

Before all these positions was you. Kindly tell us a little of your personality and background

I studied History and Political Science in the University of Ibadan, and graduated in flying colours in 1985. Thereafter, I proceeded to the United States of America where I studied Real Estate and Finance at Lumbleau Real Estate and Finance College inside University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I graduated and worked with several real estate companies including Mike Glickman Realty, Musselli Brokers, AMRIC Real Estate and finally Coldwell Banker, the largest real estate firm in the US. Afterwards, I returned to Nigerian, and established a real estate firm in Victoria, and with my background in information technology, which I obtained while I was in the US, I also established DTK Solutions in partnership with a UAE based IT company.

Well, a time came when I felt that there was a vacuum in the way we handle and practice our micro finance system in Nigeria, which everybody was seeing through the lens of the CBN, which I disagreed with, and I still do. And so, we looked for an alternative market system, and came up with the cooperative, and it enabled us to do everything we want to do under micro financing and financial inclusion. That led us to establishing Coop Exchange Investment Trust and Credit Union in 2011, and we marked our 10th anniversary earlier this year. Since then, I have risen to become the president of the National apex body for financial cooperatives in Nigeria, which is the national Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria, and that has been since 2012. And God willing, I should be finishing my term by 2023 and hand over to a new administration.

How did you manage to switch from Real Estate to Financing which appear to be two different industries

They are one industry. I studied Real Estate Finance, and we were involved in the finance aspect of real estate, not really property development. Of course, we got involved in property development. We noticed the vacuum for finance for those at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Finance for bottom of the pyramid involves finance for their personal uses, which include finance for their children’s school fees, payment of bills and for anything that catches their fancy. However, we also noticed that they could not get financing to purchase their homes; that’s where real estate comes in. So real estate is one thing, but to finance the purchase of the home is where the synergy comes in. I am still within that realm of finance.

In the couple of years you have been in this business, you sure must have made some achievements. Can you itemise some of the achievements made so far

Oh, we have made quite a lot. We have done tremendously well. In the first place, through our national body, we have been able to established a streamlined and sustainable process of financing for our members across board in Nigeria, with due respect to the six zones of Nigeria; North West, North East, North Central, South East, South West and South South. The north west is our weakest link though. It is such that our members are able to go through a systemised process and access finance for any of their uses. That is one. Secondly, we have also been able to establish a N100 billion National Agriculture and Investment Cooperative Fund (NAIC FUND), which caters 70 percent of agriculture and 30 percent for other uses, and our members are accessing it presently. Then, how do we come about this? Usually, the CBN will come up to tell us that they have established funds for use in Nigeria, but in the end, what we have established and found out is that our members are unable to access funds when they establishes, so we have to come up with our own innovation, and people can easily access. We have had a lot of support from Lagos State government and they have opened the road for us to do that for our members to access funds for all the five stages of the agreed value chain.

Again, we have been able to establish what we call Cooperative Banking System. This means that our members are able to use our streamlined processes to manage their various their financial cooperatives such that members are able to access loans and credit through that systemised process. That is actually referred to as FOSA (Front Office Service Activities). That is ongoing. But the topmost part of it is our ability to establish the fifth exchange in Nigeria, which is the cooperative shares exchange (CSE). Presently, we have the Nigeria Exchange Group, which was formerly called Nigeria Stock Exchange. We also have the NASDOTC Exchange, we have FMDQ Exchange and lately Lagos Commodities and Features Exchange (LCFE). Those are the four existing exchanges in Nigeria. The Abuja Commodity Exchange was established during the General Sani Abacha era, but it never saw the light of the day. So our exchange, which is dedicated to cooperatives enables cooperative societies to come and list the shares of their societies and buy into the shares of others, and so check the capital market for the cooperatives. This is what is presently ongoing. We have completed all the processes. We have also received all regulatory approvals; from NLC, Lagos State and government approved  agencies for us to be able to take off before the end of the year. So these are some of the innovative we have brought into cooperative financing and which is beginning to bear fruit.

You may wish to know that the cooperative financial access in Nigeria is in excess of N2.4trn of which we have in excess of 121 thousand registered cooperative societies. Our membership base is over 42 million across Nigeria. So, we are very large. We are the single largest business entity in Nigeria across board. Not even the Nigeria Labour Congress has our numbers. And we exist in every corner, from the Federal ministry of any establishment to the central bank to the oil industry – NLNG to Total to the remotest corner such as Zungeru. Just name it, we are there. We cover the entire strata of the Nigeria economy.

Is the accessibility of loans open to only members or just anyone in need of loans and credit

Yes, it is open to just members, however, who is a member? He is anyone in the society that has opted to join.

So what are the procedures for joining

One just have to pick a society that is of interest to him and join, and once you join, that brings you into the entire fold. So in essence. what it means is that any member of the society is a potential member, and for you to be a cognitive member, you must join the society. For example, if you want to do business with any bank, they will tell you to open an account. Opening an account means that you have a relationship with that financial institution, so it is the same time in cooperative. What you need to do is complete a membership registration process, and once done, you become a member.

Does it attract registration fee and other sundry fees like monthly dues

More oftentimes in cooperative societies, one has to pay registration and monthly fees, membership and development levies. One has to attend meetings and decide how much you wish to contribute on a monthly basis in terms of savings, which of course gives you access to either twice or thrice the amount of savings you have contributed whenever you want to borrow money. What it does really is that it encourages members to save money because of the rainy day. And most importantly, one is able to access credit whenever he needs money to do anything in the future.

Out of the 121 active cooperative societies in the country today, what special features will make me choose Coop instead of any other

Well, basically like any other thing; it is service and what you get in return, and then the assurances of your investments in the cooperative society. When we talk about investments, we mean your main savings, and you want to be sure that at the end of the day, whatever amount of money you saved in the society is save. And if you wish to apply for credit facility, you will be able to access the credit facility. So, that is what makes the difference. And we run ours in a professional manner than any other society. I make bold to say with all due respect to most of us that are in cooperative that regulation is still very weak within the cooperative sector. So for a society to keep to the tenets of financial regulation means that the society has actually chosen to remain on the side of probity. That is very important to us, and we have kept to that on since 2011 when we began operation. This is our 10th year, and we have been waxing strong.

Our focus is not even on us as the secondary society. The focus is on the national body where I preside over and runs affairs of things across the entire country. So, what we chose to do is to ensure that the processes of managing the activities of the cooperative societies has sustainable effect on the lives of the average persons across Nigeria. Remember we have 42 million members in Nigeria. So what it means in essence is that if I am affecting even 50 percent of the members, which is 21 million members; the total number of voters we have at every given election is less than 30 million, so you can equate us as a cooperative apex with that of a government in Nigeria. So, the truth of the matter is that we are a pseudo government, affecting the lives of our members positively.

Does it mean you can be a pressure group, and are you taking advantage of that

Correct! That is what we want to take advantage of now.

How soon

We have been working on it. We didn’t just start yesterday. We have been working on it as far back as 2013, and this is 2021. That is some good eight years that we have been on it. We believe that we should be able to have a say on who becomes the president of this country. And God willing, by 2023, we want to make sure that happens.

Economically, controlling 42 million Nigerians, can we say you have what it takes to lift 20 percent of Nigerians out of poverty

That is correct. We do as an institution, not in my person. But the institution of the cooperative – the movement – going by our capacity, yes, we do have what it takes to lift 20 percent of Nigerians out of poverty.

What is the response of members in terms of contribution and maximizing the opportunity to access loans, and how are the loans collected monitored to ensure prompt payback

Oh yes. You see, lending and credit, across board, has similar characteristics. When you want to lend, you must conduct due diligence on the borrower to know if he has the capability to repay. If he does, what is the source of the repayment? What is the credibility of the borrower, and then are we going to collateriase the loan? There are different ways to look at all these. They have similar characteristics across board whether it is GTB, Access or World Bank. There are lending characteristics, and we are not any different. Except that we have buyers for cooperative lending. This has its own peculiar characteristics that extend further than the normal lending characteristics e.g our lending is also based on trust. The trust content of it means that there must be two members within the cooperative that are standing as guarantors to the borrower. Meanwhile, those two guarantors must have their assets with which the cooperative will place a lien on. Then they will be able to access some credit. Which ever way, it is a win-win situation for both; lender and borrower.

Without mentioning names, can you give instances of those who have changed their lives positively through society borrowings

It is rather difficult not to mention names. However, it goes beyond the length and breadth of the cooperative lending movement. We talk about NLNG, Dangote Group and many others. This is what they do basically – For instance, we have NNPC cooperative wanting to set up a poultry farm in Kogi and needed to invest N1 billion. The One Billion was borrowed from a financial institution, but security for the lending was given by a cooperative movement. And they were able to service that, and the project is still existing in Kogi State even now for fish farming. There are so many; it cuts across the country. That is one of the key components of what we are happy to have achieved.

Don’t you have issues with the banks in the cause of your duties as regards taking their customers from them

Yes, there is. They fight us, but they cannot succeed. There are two key reasons why. Number one: the money that we lend to ourselves is sourced from within ourselves. Number two: all of the money are domiciled in these commercial banks because of the existing structure. So it is a win-win situation. It is very difficult for them to say we cannot lend to one another our own money. At the end of the day, we came to understand that we don’t have to see ourselves as competitors, but collaborators. And that is how we are surviving now.

Is there any law backing the establishment of cooperative societies

Yes, there are laws. The laws are on the Recurrent Legislative List of the Nigerian Constitution. They have what they call Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act 2004 Cap 98 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. It was converted from the Decree 90 of 1993 and its Subsidiaries. And every state of the Federation plus the FCT has an adaptation of the Nigeria Cooperative Societies Act as the state cooperative laws which derives its powers from the Federal law. That is how we operate. It explains the reasons we are registered either by the office in the states or the office of the Federal Director of Cooperatives under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which is the chief regulator of cooperatives in Nigeria.

Basically, the activities of the Cooperative Societies are legit

Yes, fully legit. It is not like that in Nigeria alone, it is the same thing worldwide. Now, let me explain that the cooperative has six chaired level in the entire world. Four levels in Nigeria, and two worldwide. One – the primary societies, which we join as members. Two – secondary societies, which is made up of registered primary societies as members. We have state apexes and the national apex of which I am the national president. Those are the four levels in Nigeria. The fifth level is the African region, ACCOSCA, African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations, and then the World level, WOCCU, World Council of Credit Unions based in Wisconsin in the US. It is the same system across the world.

What advice do you have for those not members of the Cooperative societies yet

The advice is simple: join. Look for a cooperative society to join because a lot of things are happening in the societies now. This is the place where you can have access to the cheapest source of finance. I make bold to say that where your bank is charging you as high as two percent per month on your loan or credit, which gives about 24 percent per annum, cooperative will charge you not more half. You don’t have to deal with the issues of finance charge, procession charge, residence charge etc. You are better off with a cooperative society.

How did you come about your bashorun title

I am the Bashorun Adorun of Ayede Kingdom in Ekiti State. Ayede is one of the seven recognised old kingship institutions in the whole of Ekiti State. So, I am honoured to be a title holder for Ayede kingdom. I have been since 2009.

What is your marital status

I am married with very beautiful children and very lovely home

How do you relax

I read, and spend time with friends and family. I also love traveling. More importantly, I go through what is going on in the world of cooperatives with a view to discovering how to better the Nigerian cooperative societies, and that gives me a lot of joy.

Of all the countries you have travelled to, which of them left a more lasting memories in you

For me, it is South Africa. It is somehow in-between the European world and us, Africans. Whenever I am there, I feel like I am in a developed environment within the African context because I am fully African. I have been to a lot of places, but South Africa is it for me.

What is your favourite colour

I am very comfortable in white colour though one don’t get to wear white all the time. I love my traditional attires most especially. I wore foreign attire for the better part of my career, now at almost 60, I think I have to stick to traditional.