13/10/2025
MEDIA MANAGER URGES PRACTITIONERS TO ORGANISE AND DRIVE NIGERIA’S COOPERATIVE ECONOMY
The General Manager of Splash FM and Lagelu FM, Mr. Tunde Olawuwo, has called on Nigerian media practitioners to take up the responsibility of setting the agenda for the nation’s cooperative economy and actively drive it as part of the response to the ongoing economic reorganization.
Delivering the keynote address on “The Role of the Media in Organising and Driving a Cooperative Economy in Nigeria,” Mr. Olawuwo noted that since Nigeria subtly abandoned a welfare-driven economy in 2023 and embraced a free-market system through federal policies, citizens should not be left uncertain about the nation’s current economic direction. He stressed the need for Nigerians to understand and harness the opportunities inherent in a people-driven, free-market economy.
Speaking at a business conference organized by the Leacent Industrial Cooperatives Group, Nigeria, to commemorate the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives and unveil the movement’s tripartite approach to industrial cooperative activities at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Mr. Olawuwo highlighted the strength of Nigeria’s media landscape. With over 200 licensed radio stations, numerous television channels, print outlets, and expanding online platforms, he said the media is fully capable of shaping economic discourse, influencing public policy, and guiding collective business practices in a sustainable manner.
“The media is the lifeblood required to organise and drive a robust cooperative economy in today’s Nigeria,” he emphasized.
Supporting Olawuwo’s stance, the convener of the Industrial Cooperation Conference and founder of the industrial cooperative movement, **Mr. Ola Emmanuel**, remarked that since January 2023, Nigeria’s economy has been transitioning toward a private sector-led cooperative model. He urged individuals and corporate bodies to become more structured, trustworthy, and strategic, leveraging the power of collective numbers to deliver industrial-scale enterprises sustainably.
He explained that such inter-cooperation among stakeholders in production, markets, and finance would help return commerce to communities and ensure shared wealth through a balanced tripartite relationship.
Addressing business leaders and corporate organisations at the event, Mr. Emmanuel stressed the urgency of collaboration among enterprise stakeholders, calling for a synergy of capacities to build movements capable of activating large-scale industrial production and advancing private sector-led transformation of the Nigerian economy.
“We have critically examined the chain comprising production, markets, and funding,”* he said. *“We have set out to organise cooperatives, individuals, and other stakeholders into a tripartite inter-cooperation structure. This will enable interventions in critical areas such as capacity building, performance enhancement, market pe*******on, funding, risk mitigation, production support, and business linkages." He added.
