Dare to Dream… for the future is bright….
Today, we mark a guard changing event enveloped within the concept of an AGM.
On behalf of your management committee and other sub committees of this out going tenure, I warmly welcome you all to the 2020 Annual General Meeting which is a hybrid event. We appreciate your presence (physically or remotely) which sums up the confidence you have in our society by being a member in the first instance.
Vision is everything!!! Habakkuk 2:2 – 3
Thankfully, am writing my last speech as the president of this great, budding but profitable outfit.
In the beginning, we had a dream… and the dream was to pull together the best individuals with imaginative desires to build a society that can play like the other cooperative society’s domiciled in other IOCs.
We dreamt and we pursued it with vigour. Purpose was our driver, candour was our virtue and confidence was our main ingredients.
Thus, the coming together of the 13 wise men/women who took the initiatives to start something. We started with no clear cut direction, but only our dreams and desires to act as compass to the promise land. The journey was indeed a turbulent one. With determination, we wobbled and tumbled through the path of an esusu like arrangement to that of a savings club and finally to the cooperative society that we are celebrating today.
In the course of this journey, we have had strong men and women who cheered us on. In particular, I must commend the visionary insight of one great woman, Ms Ighojovbe Oghenekaro, who sowed the seed and challenged us to start something and I must also appreciate our other senior colleagues who believed in the ability of the initial executive members (we were just three until 2016) and supported us through thick and thin. Particular mention must be made of Mr. Chukwudi Illoh (ex-MD of nacpfa limited & ex- GMH); he believed, trusted and supported all we stood for. I will be an ingrate if I failed to mention Mrs. Eluche Azuka (LLO Division Manager) for believing in us and assisting us in the establishment of our physical office.
In these few years, we have grown. Yes! We have indeed grown from mere 13 visionaries to a staggering strength of 87 members as at date. This quantum growth in numerical strength is a testimony to ‘the-believe’ we all have in this great and emerging institution. It thus means, we can always get better with the passage of time.
What brought us this far?
The audacity to dream and the ferociousness of our desire for change was the main tonic that fueled our passion.
Your trust and encouragement sustained the passion and made us to aspire for greatness.
The conviction of those charged with nursing the infant society and their never-say-die attitude ensured that the results are always there for all discerning eyes to behold.
Achievements
- Technology driven business strategy. Installation of bespoke accounting software that enables an end-to-end, business-to-person handling of cooperative investment activities. It is a one stop business solution for our society.
- Office space at annex 2 (courtesy of the management of Eni Nigeria)- fully furnished, well equipped with ICT equipment and well-staffed by two professional accountants.
- Infrastructures – acquisition of computers (desktop and laptop), servers, etc. this is for efficient data management and seamless report generation.
- Website design ( http://groupresources.nacpfa.local/ ) and upload of details still ongoing.
- Financing of real estate acquisition by members at competitive return to the cooperative. By this, we created a win-win scenario for all parties involved,
- Membership of IOC cooperative society; to take advantage of emerging opportunities within and withal the Nigerian socio-economic climate.
‘2020 – Year of Pandemic’
The year under focus has been a business year with unprecedented characteristics starting from the advent of COVID-19 which led to the period of complete business lock down through the EndSARS protest and the subsequent unrest which led to the shutdown of economic activities and disruption to our earning capabilities. These unplanned events couple with inconsistencies in government’ macro-economic and fiscal policies led to a struggling economy wherein interest rate was at its lowest ebb of less than 1% for relatively long period of time.
Cumulative effect of these occurrences was that our Society’ earning plans was called to question. Thus, we needed to reinvent our dreaming competences.
Despite these challenges, we have been able to keep your asset safe and grow your return at rate higher than previous period by 76%. This growth was attributable to earned income on real estate (which was not existing in previous period), while combined income from money market and loan reduced by 27%.
In summary, revenue increased by 79%. Conversely, expenses increased by 100%. Operating asset grew by 59%, which is in line with the growth in members’ contribution at 66%. There were no issues of failed transactions or non-performing loan. In addition, membership grew by 16% from 75 (2019) to 87 in 2020.
Dear Cooperators, please join me to say a big welcome to our new members.
Upon approval by you and in line with the provisions of the law guiding our operations, we hereby propose to pay out the sum of NGN 23,537,962 which stands at credit of the general reserves.
In closing, I say, let ‘every Kobo continue to count’…..
Let my advice be to:
- Members – be involve; ask questions; query the status quo; with your prodding, we can do better.
- Exco – be open minded; welcome constructive criticism and learn to manage the not too good ones; be accountable; but be firm at all time.
- Intending members – continue to pray for our success so that you have something to look forward to.
The future is bright….
Inadvertently, we have started the process of building a micro finance bank.
Lastly, please join me to celebrate the 6 wonderful men & women I have had the privilege of working with in the past few years. You were simply a motivating factor for the success achieved so far. Also, kudos to the secretariat staff for their dedication to duty and the willingness to always go an extra mile for the good of our society. I also recognize the support given to us by the Management of ENI Nigeria and the staff of HR & finance for their prompt response to our needs as well the auditor (Joseph Alale & co) for the support during the system development stage.
To my fellow cooperators, thank you for the confidence reposed in my team and the trust we have in each other. I implore you to continue to support us that the society may become an envy of other societies in our cycle of influence.
To the glory of God, I take my bow and step aside for the new kids on the block.
May God grant you and the new Exco the wisdom and strengthen to steer our affairs profitably. And the curtain closes….
Yours in service,
BAMISHE, Omotayo Olusegun, FCA,
President