By : nationalglint

Nigeria Union of Teachers Ebonyi State Wing, a multi-purpose cooperative society Tuesday, said that plans were in place to acquire landed properties that would be shared among its members in the state.

The co-operative members held their ordinary general meeting on Tuesday during which the activities of the cooperative were reviewed and new plans unfolded for the members.

Savings were paid to retirees of the cooperative by the state managers.

Addressing the teachers during the meeting, Comrade David Elom, who is the President of the NUT co-operative Ebonyi state wing, noted that NUT Ebonyi was the last state to get registered in the NUT cooperative.

He said some states like Oyo (Ibadan) keyed in around 1979, and others have been there for over 20 years, while Ebonyi is just a year old and some months. He expressed hope that the cooperative will alleviate teachers’ poverty and reduce unnecessary borrowing.

He said the co-operative working to make teachers land/ house owners in Ebonyi state.

“We started with 9 members in July/ August 2020 but today that number has increased to about 700 registered members.

“We plan to grow the co-operative and be like other states. We want a situation where teachers in Ebonyi will own land, we plan that in two years now the cooperative will acquire land in the capital city and distribute it to teachers.

“We plan to give care loans to our members by next year. Any teacher that has a better salary to own a car will get it.
“The last one is house loan. We want to start giving house loans to our teachers these are some of the things we have lined up for our members.
“Membership is open to every registered teacher in Ebonyi state. It is optional but every registered teacher in Ebonyi state is free to join” he stated.

State NUT chairman, Comrade Egwu Francis Elechi, represented by Franklin Nkwuede, said the co-operative has come to liberate teachers from external borrowing which they always pay higher interest in return.

He assured the teachers that they are in a safe hand, adding that they must try to save for difficult days, and also inform other teachers to join and reap the dividends.

Secretary NUT, Comrade Metu Nathaniel in his remarks noted that where there is no cooperative, teachers suffer in the hands of merchandise shyloks and fail to save for tomorrow.

According to Metu, a success story doesn’t start with a large number and expressed hope that the co-operative will go round.
He urged teachers to have confidence in the managers of the co-operative.

Some of the retirees including Nwambam Cletus commended the state wing of NUT for starting the co-operative and urged members to avoid sharp loan agencies and access the teacher’s co-operative.

Esther Nworie

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