By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Lagos State Cooperative Societies have invested over N40 billion in various economic enterprises in Lagos State.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Dr. Yakub Basorun, disclosed this at Alausa, Ikeja during a media briefing on the highlights of a week-long events to mark the 2011 International Cooperative Day in Lagos.

Some of the activities lined up for the celebration include; quiz competition among members of 15 cooperative multipurpose unions in the state, awareness road show, lecture, exhibition, turning of the sod of the cooperative training institute classroom, rounded up by merit award/ dinner night.

According to Basorun, the economic enterprises of the cooperatives which serves as catalyst for the development of the state economy include; farming, fishing, trading, processing, transportation, housing, artisanal activities and public service.

“The contribution of cooperative movement to the economy of the state is immense. The worth of the cooperatives in Lagos state is in excess of N40 billion. We have over 12, 000 registered cooperative societies. The average turnover of each of this society’s worth over a million.”