Lagos State Cooperative College (LASCOCO) has organised a four-day intensive training programme on strategies to survive in the face of the current global economic challenges for stakeholders of Cooperatives Societies in Lagos.
Addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the workshop held at the College’s Campus in Agege and tagged: “Disruptive Innovation: Survival Strategies for Cooperative Societies”, the Provost of LASCOCO, Mr. Akorede Ojomu said the programme was organised for trustees, managers and members of cooperatives societies to improve their knowledge and enhance their management ability.
He stated that the institution would always proactively evolve strategies through qualitative education for stakeholders of cooperative societies across the state for them to stay afloat in the management of their business activities.
His words: “Given our position as a proactive training institution with a bias for cooperative education, we consider it expedient to attune the consciousness of operators in the sector to the dangers inherent in their failure to embrace the disruptive realities of the modern-day business world”.
“The theme underscores the impact of the business environment, particularly the external factors on all business enterprises and models. The management of the business environment, if not well addressed, could prove inimical to the survival of cooperative and other business organisations”, he added.
Ojomu averred that the previous disruptive environment has been worsened by the advent of COVID-19 which has unequivocally reinvented the world of work with its attendant transformations in various business models and approaches.
“Here we are with the new nature of business process largely propelled by ICT as a strong business solution. For us at the College, our curriculum has been repositioned to cope with the imperatives of the ever dynamic albeit volatile environment across the globe and Nigeria”, the Provost stated.
He said we find ourselves at a time and age when we have to embrace the “new normal” to forge ahead not only in business operations but also in our daily lives, pointing out the need to turn disruptive developments around for cooperative business survival and success.
Ojomu stated that the training aimed to equip cooperators with the necessary skills with which they would hopefully convert emerging threats to business opportunities through the right knowledge acquired in the course of the intensive training programme.
“We have painstakingly selected the topics that would be discussed at this seminar in recognition of the need to cover as much as possible, the different areas of your business operations. Equally gratifying is the fact that our facilitators are seasoned subject matter specialists with years of professional and hands-on experience cutting across both the private and public sectors”, he added.
The Provost, therefore, implored the participants to take advantage of the opportunity inherent in the training programme to refresh their ideas and improve their knowledge for greater productivity going forward.
Mr. Wale Raji, the Chairman of the Governing Council, Lagos State Cooperative College, enjoined participants to make use of the four-day programme to expose themselves to innovations in line with current realities.
“I want you to maximise this opportunity to learn a few things on how to better manage your various societies either as managers or staff of various cooperatives at different levels so that your members can enjoy and benefit more from Cooperative Societies”.
