An Evaluation of the Indigenous Practice of Osusu Cooperatives among the Benins of South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines the indigenous cultural practice of Osusu strategy of poverty alleviation among the Benins of Benin-City, South-South, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted for the study. The instrument of data collection was the questionnaire and in-depth interview of the leaders of the cooperative societies who were our key informants. The cluster sampling method was used to select the three Osusu co-operatives societies used for the study while the simple random sampling method was used to select the participants. A total of 150 questionnaires were administered to the participants. The data collected were analysed by simple percentage, SPSS and the variables were cross tabulated. The results of the analysis of data show that Osusu co-operatives are veritable tools for poverty alleviation because of their viable traits; trust and confidence building among the members; and easy access to capital for their business ventures. The implication for social policy development and social work practice were also discussed and recommendations made on the way forward.

Key words: Co-operative societies, Trust, Loan, Poverty alleviation