On January 27, 2020, the President of the AUN Community Cooperative Society, Adamu Umar, led his executives on a courtesy visit to President Dekle in her office.
The essence of the visit was to thank her and seek the President's continuous support and guidance. The Society boasts a membership of more than 900, a whopping percentage of the staff population.
"We are a vital and integral part of this community and we want to remain so. We know we cannot succeed in the four-year strategic goal that we have set if you as the overall leader of the AUN learning community cannot give us the guidance and support and advice we need to succeed, Mr. Umar told the President, adding that the Society assists members in getting cheap funds from a pool of their contributions to ease their financial burdens.
"We are very flexible in a lot of things that we do for our members. We take pride in our members' welfare."
President Dekle was impressed with the idea of the staff members' cooperative where they come together as a group to support one another.
"This is a social group in addition to an investment group. You are like a small model of what can be because you represent all the groups, all religions, and all the tribes. Everybody is there with a common purpose. It is a win-win.
"You can just do a soccer league among the 900. Do some fun things together to know that you are together socially. I can see that expanding in ways that you haven't thought about yet. I hope to be part of the retreat. Think much larger on what you can do to take the cooperative forward."
The cooperative society helps its members by pooling resources to meet soft loans such as housing, cars, payment for wedding expenses, foodstuffs as well as medical bills. The society is also planning a leadership retreat for executive members as well as committee chairs and secretaries this week.
Reported by Omorogbe Omorogiuwa