By Ghazali Ibrahim
A major economic intervention is taking shape in Lagos East Senatorial District as Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru rolled out 48 newly formed cooperative societies backed with N480 million in take-off grants.
This is a move economists and community leaders are describing as a strategic shift from traditional empowerment programmes to long-term economic restructuring at the grassroots.
The initiative, which also included the distribution of work tools to 2,000 residents and food packs to 12,000 households, is being framed by analysts as one of the strongest attempts yet to formalise and strengthen the district’s vast informal economy, spanning market traders, artisans, farmers, transport operators and small-scale manufacturers.
Rather than the usual one-off empowerment events, Abiru’s model pools beneficiaries into structured cooperative groups, each receiving N10 million.
Cooperative leaders who received the funds described the programme as a turning point for traders and artisans traditionally excluded from formal financing.
“Many of us have never accessed bank loans before,” said one market leader.
“Being organised as cooperatives gives us strength and credibility we never had.”
Senator Abiru, who chairs the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, said the model intentionally shifts focus from gift-based empowerment to capital formation and economic independence.
“Empowerment is not about handouts,” he said.
“It is about creating platforms for people to build wealth and strengthen local economies.”
Across the 16 LGAs and LCDAs of the district, the new cooperatives are expected to unify thousands of small business owners whose livelihoods depend on daily trade or manual labour.
In addition to the grants, the senator distributed work equipment which includes freezers, generators, industrial sewing machines, hairdressing tools, grinding machines and more are rolled out to beneficiaries.
For many youths and women who make up the bulk of the informal workforce, these tools could become the foundation for financial stability.
The continued distribution of food packs to 12,000 households, especially ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities, adds a social welfare layer to the intervention.
The programme, which has run for three years, is targeted at vulnerable groups: the elderly, unemployed youths, widows and persons with disabilities.
Traditional rulers and political leaders across the district have hailed the cooperative-driven empowerment model as a departure from political tokenism.
The Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, called the initiative “remarkable and worthy of emulation,” while APC State Chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, praised the senator for expanding the party’s grassroots appeal through impactful, measurable programmes.
Former Lagos deputy governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, urged other elected officials to adopt similar innovative approaches to governance.
