A CRITICAL REVIEW ON THE IMPACT, EFFECTIVE MASS MOBILIZATION, AND SELF-RELIANCE OF COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT. A CASE STUDY OF ORLU LOCAL GOVERNMENT FARMER’S COOPERATIVE SOCIETY IN IMO STATE

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

       This project work attempts to look at the critical review on the impact and effectiveness of (MAMSER) towards cooperative development. For the purpose of this work, emphasis is placed on the said programme term MAMSER in Nigeria.

       MAMSER is an acronym for Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery. It was an exercise in political orientation in Nigeria undertaken by former president Ibrahim Gbadamosi Babangida as one of the recommendations of the political bureau headed by Samuel Cookey.  The bureau task was to consult with thousands of Nigerians and recommend to the Armed forces ruling council, a respectable and methodical transition programme. The ruling council also wanted a national orientation to enunciate the abstract ideas in its economic policy and promote value orientation towards mobilizing the populace for the purpose of forming cooperative society. MAMSER was inaugurated on July 25^th, 1987.

Asaolu (2004:54-56), quoted the mass mobilization for social and economic recovery (MAMSER) in its studies of 1988 as identifying the problems facing cooperative movement in Nigeria to be generally due to political and socio-economic factors. The major of these problems are highlighted below;

1. Lack of adequate working capital
2. Bad leadership and succession problems characterized by mismanagement.
3. Lack of modern business techniques and liability to complete.
4. Bad record keeping and shortage of supervisory staff.
5. Inadequate capital base to cope with the needs of SMEs.
6. proliferation of weak cooperative society which result from lack of coordination of activities.
7. Outdated cooperative laws.
8. Government interference and manipulation of cooperative programme in government policies.
9. Corrupt and embezzlement of cooperative funds by the leaders and paid workers.

Onuoha (1986), identified the leadership problem as a major setback to the performance of cooperative societies saying that group action is more difficult to coordinate than individual action. So he lays emphasis on mass mobilization of the people. At the inception of the modern cooperative in the country, government intended to foster and nurture cooperative to grow and become self-reliant as government gradually withdraw.

However, seven decades of modern cooperative in Nigeria, government still remains in fourth control of cooperatives. The implication is perpetual dependence on government resulting into erosion of self-help and self-responsibilities nature of cooperative.

Akinwunmi (2006), Therefore suggested the need for total re-engineering of cooperative societies through mass mobilization for self-reliance, social justice and economic recovery (MAMSER).

MAMSER has tremendously impacted effectively towards the growth and development of cooperative societies in this great country Nigeria. MAMSER’s impactation can be streamline in the area of mobilizing the youth for empowerment and cooperative education. MAMSER campaign was launched by commander Amadi Ikweche, the then Governor of Imo State , which he further inaugurate. This project MAMSER-A critical review of the impact and effectiveness is a study to look into the method by which imo state government is marketing MAMSER ideas as to reveal its impact and effectiveness towards cooperative development in Imo State (A case study of Orlu Farmers Cooperative Societies).