CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

1.1    INTRODUCTION

The origin and growth of cooperatives are as old as human race. Cooperative started as an urban consumer retail enterprise but later spread to rural areas amongst farmers Lawal, K. A. A. (2012) Cop 216 Noun Web.

Since the year of operations and practice of cooperative societies, business in Nigeria, no doubt had undergone series of dynamic changes to equip and expose middle and high level manpower of various levels grounded in the theory and practice of cooperative studies that will be substantial/relevance to industry Lawal, K. A. A. (2012) Cop 318 Noun Web.

There are different definitions of cooperative.  According to International Labour Organization (ILO), cooperative is an association of persons who have voluntarily joined together to achieve a common end through the formation of a democratically controlled organization, making equitable contributions to the capital required and accepting affair share of the risks and benefit of the undertaking in which the members actively participate.

According to Edet 2007 in her study of the role of cooperative societies towards the rural development, cooperative is a form of business organization own by a group of people to serve the benefits of their members and assist in liberating of oppression of the economically strong people.

Alternatively, a society is a group of people who join together for a particular purpose (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary).

There are several types of cooperative societies namely: thrift and credit, agricultural, producers, consumers, multi-purpose cooperative societies etc. the thrift and credit cooperative society is found in almost all the rural areas.  Members mobilize funds among themselves. Such funds come from the members in form of entrance fee, savings, fines etc funds can also be procured from financial houses or financial institutions. Its formation falls within the range of 10-50 persons.