By Saheed Ibrahim

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Ondo State Government said it has taken steps to address the challenges in the cooperative sector in the state in order to ensure effective and corruption-free cooperative societies.
Permanent Secretary, Agency for Commerce, Industries and Cooperatives, Dr Dipo Durojaiye made this known at the 10th Congress of the Ondo State Cooperative Federation (ODSCOFED) Limited held in Akure yesterday.
Delivering the keynote address at the event, Dr Durojaiye, who was represented by the Director, Cooperative Services, Braiye Williams noted that cooperative societies had contributed immensely to the development of all sectors of the economy through employment, income and poverty alleviation.
He stressed that the state government had taken steps to address the challenges in the cooperative sector.
As part of the steps, he stated that the Agency had embarked on proactive monitoring and supervision of all cooperative societies in the state in terms of performance evaluation, periodic monitoring and prompt response to contemporary challenges
In his address, the ODSCOFED President, Mr Michael Olowoyeye appealed to the state government to address the delay in the remittance of cooperative deductions to the coffers of various societies in the state.
While appreciating the state Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in his efforts to combat insecurity in the state, especially by the establishment of Amotekun Corps, Olowoyeye charged him to equip the corps with sophisticated weapons in order to be effective in delivering its mandate.
The cooperative society also elected new Board Members to pilot the affairs of ODSCOFED for the next four years as Mr Olowoyeye was unanimously elected to continue piloting the affairs of the cooperative society while Chief Ajayi Olorungbeja and Prince Sola Obanla were elected as Vice President 1 and 2 respectively.
The President, Oodua Cooperative Conglomerate Limited, Elder Felix Ajibode charged the new board members to be transparent and ensure there is peace among the members of the cooperative society.
In his acceptance speech, the returned President, Olowoyeye promised to continue to protect the interests of the members and ensure their benefits are duly given while his Second Vice, Prince Obanla assured that the affirmations of the members would be adequately addressed by the new board members.