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From left: Immediate Past, Executive President, Airport Fire and Safety Co-operative Multipurpose Society (AFSCMS), Mr. Richard Tella; Assistant Director, Co-operative Services Lagos State, Mr. Omotayo Kazeem; Chairman, General Manager Welfare and Staff Matters, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Sanni Jimoh; Incoming Executive President of AFSCMS, Alhaji Sadiq Saheed Anako and Guest, Mr. Azeez Yusuf, during the 19th Annual General Meeting of AFSCMS in Lagos
Posted by Sade Williams
The past four years of the Airport Fire and Safety Cooperative Multipurpose Society, AFSCMS has witnessed massive investment on landed properties which will start yielding dividends for members soon.
These investments included acquisition of 200 plots of land at Lusada, Agbara, abandoned school property at Alakuko, building of a befitting secretariat and guest house.
Giving his account of stewardship as President of the Cooperative at the 19th Annual General Meeting of Mr. Richard Tella, described his tenure as eventful, impactful and educative, adding that when they were given the mandate to pilot the affairs of the Cooperative, the focus was put in place a well structured financial administration in line with operational guideline.
In line with their objectives to take the Cooperative to a higher pedestal, they were able to create an investment platform to serve as alternative source of revenue for the body as well as provide economic empowerment training that had been useful for its members after retirement.
Others are the introduction of payments through POS and online, two levels auditing before financial approval and provision of new salary structure and motivation to staff.
He noted that the case involving the members in the misappropriation of the members fund was currently on the verge of being transferred to a high court by the Federal Crime Unit.
“After the internal investigation, they were handed over to the law enforcement agency. We made some recovery from one of them, precisely, out of court settlement-a complete dwelling place and an uncompleted building. Others who have refused to cooperate with the law enforcement agency were summoned to magistrate court”.
On the landed properties acquired, Tella said 90 members have benefited from the purchase of the Lusada land in Agbara with the purchasing value of N2.5 million.
“We have more than 100 plots left to be sold at prevailing value, which will be higher that the purchase value from next year, the estate, aka Aviation Cooperative Garden, already has government approved title documents and infrastructural facilities such as tarred roads, drainage and electricity”.
“We have now a new and befitting secretariat which was completed and commissioned this year. It gives us the image of a corporate business entity to be reckoned with in the near future. A section of the office is already occupied by senior citizens Cooperative Society at little price”.
“An abandoned school property was jointly acquired with FMT$A Cooperative Society located at Alakuko, Lagos. The school is registered with the Lagos State Ministry of Education as Aviation Group of Schools, and we are working assiduously to ensure the school takes off earnestly in the next academic session”.
The out gone President of the AFSCMS, emphasized that the guest house built during his tenure would be ready for inauguration next year located at Beesam with 23 rooms for members and other people who wish to make use of it.
Meanwhile, the newly elected president of the AFSCMS at the 19th annual general meeting, Alhaji Saheed Sadiq, said it is embarking on a vigorous membership drive nationwide in order to restore confidence and raise funds for members.
In his acceptance speech, he revealed that the Cooperative will strive to raise its membership strength from the present 4000 to 6000 in 2020.
According to Sadiq, the new executive tagged ‘Team Change’ will ensure that those who left the Cooperative for one reason or the other will be made to come back to the fold and contribute their quota to the growth of the society.
He said their primary mandate was to meet the demands of members as at when due and pleaded with them to cooporate in the area of prevailing bye laws and implementation by fully complying.
Sadiq urged members with heavy loan requests on compassionate ground, to give the new executive six months to enable them stabilize in order to meet their demands.
The new president said he would consolidate on the achievements of the past executive to move the Cooperative to greater height.
In an interview with journalists earlier, Sadiq who was the former secretary of the cooperative under Richard Tella, said they achieved so much in the last executive saying that members were in for better times.
According to him, the Cooperative was able to defray over 90% cost of landed property at Agbara in Ogun state which was purchased for over N500m while the school and hotel projects will soon be put to use.
Tella reiterated that there are plans in place to create an Investment Partners Platforms, IPP, where individual members would have the opportunity to buy shares and become investment partners with the Cooperative.
“This will launch the society into robust investment prospect. I believe the coming management team will give it a push and execute the plan.”
Tella stressed that, “the management team rigorously embarked on training of our members from inception with focus on life after retirement and economic empowerment. Close to 1000 members participated in the training and seminars”.
