The Vice Chancellor of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Professor Ursula Ngozi Akanwa, and an inaugural lecturer at the institution, Professor Festus Ugwuoke Agbo, have underscored the critical role of cooperatives and cooperative societies in addressing poverty in Nigeria.
They spoke during the university’s 71st inaugural lecture held at the institution in Abia State.

The lecture, delivered by Professor Agbo of the Department of Agricultural Economics, was titled: “Cooperating Out of Poverty: If We Co, We Can, Operate Out of Nigeria’s Poverty Conundrum.”
Defining cooperation, the lecturer said it exists whenever two or more people work together to solve common challenges affecting them individually or collectively.

He also cited the internationally accepted definition of a cooperative as adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance during its 1995 Centenary Congress in Geneva.

According to him, a cooperative is “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.”

Professor Agbo explained that cooperatives differ from other forms of business because they prioritise people and their welfare above capital.
“It is an association of persons, not of capital, so that the needs of people supersede those of capital in considering cooperative activity,” he stated.

He noted that the central purpose of cooperation is to enable people with similar economic, social or cultural needs to collectively meet those needs through voluntary participation.
The professor described poverty as a state of deprivation in which individuals and groups lack access to necessities such as food, shelter, education, healthcare and clothing.

According to him, cooperatives provide opportunities for financial inclusion through savings, credit facilities, insurance services and entrepreneurship support for small businesses and start-ups.
He added that cooperative societies also promote mentorship, training and funding opportunities capable of improving household incomes and living conditions.

Speaking on the poverty situation in Nigeria, Professor Agbo said a large percentage of Nigerians still struggle to meet basic daily needs.

Quoting World Bank statistics, he said many Nigerians live below the international poverty line of 1.90 dollars per day, adding that between 2025 and 2026, about 50 to 60 per cent of Nigerians were estimated to be living in poverty.

He identified five dimensions of poverty as economic, health, education, social and environmental deprivation, stressing that the dimensions are interconnected and worsen the living conditions of affected citizens.

In her remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ursula Ngozi Akanwa, described the lecture as timely and significant because it addressed one of Nigeria’s most pressing national challenges.
According to her, the topic aligns strongly with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal One (SDG 1), which focuses on ending poverty.

She questioned why Nigeria, despite its vast arable land, favourable ecology and energetic population, still ranks among countries with high levels of extreme poverty.
The Vice Chancellor noted that the lecture offered evidence-based solutions rather than mere lamentation over the country’s economic realities.

Professor Akanwa further stated that agricultural economics goes beyond farm production and possesses enormous transformational potential through agribusiness management, cooperative systems, agricultural financing, value-chain development and rural industrialisation.

She said cooperation should not only be seen as an economic tool but also as a transformational philosophy capable of empowering communities and creating sustainable pathways to prosperity.

According to her, societies burdened by poverty cannot sustainably achieve food security, quality education, industrial growth, good health, peace or social equity.

She expressed confidence that the lecture would stimulate meaningful academic discussions, inspire innovative ideas and deepen conversations on poverty reduction and national development.