Employment generation and national development in Nigeria: the cooperative experience

Abstract

Cooperative Societies all over the world have been accepted as possible alternative instruments for achieving economic development and empowerment. In fact, as a result of their many attributes and the nature of their operation, cooperatives are regarded as superior to capitalism, socialism and mixed economy in the creation and delivery of goods and services. Unlike capitalism, cooperative places emphasis on the human factor rather than on capital, and unlike socialism, it gives due respect to personal property and ownership. This paper examines the cooperative even as a traditional institution that can be modied and modernized to generate employment so as to aid economic development. To this end, a combination of primary and secondary sources of data collection was adopted and the descriptive method used in presenting the results. It was discovered that modern cooperative can induce community participation through improved agricultural and industrial productivity, and contribute to the overall national development.