The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kolawole Salako has urged members of the UNAAB Staff Co-operative Multipurpose Society Limited to be faithful whenever they obtain loan from the society. The Vice-Chancellor gave this charge during a one-day seminar, organised by the Co-operative Society for its members themed, “Guarantorship and its Attendant Implications”.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, who was represented at the seminar by the immediate past Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Prof. Lateef Sanni, co-operators should be prepared to repay loans obtained at appropriate time for others to have the same opportunity to benefit from the scheme. The Vice-Chancellor described as fraudulent, any co-operator that obtained loan without having any intention to pay back, stressing that such a person should not go unpunished, as he assured the society of the University Management’s readiness to support it whenever required. Prof. Salako charged the Executive Committee to be fair to members and apply the principle of first-come, first-served in attending to staff. Earlier, the President of the Society, Mr. Jonathan Fatokun disclosed that the seminar was meant to create awareness on who a guarantor is, and what is expected of the guarantor.
According to him, “The decision to organise this seminar was borne out of the fact that many of our members appear to be ignorant of the implications associated with being guarantors, going by what both the executive and staff have been experiencing in the recent times”. The Principal, Ogun State Co-operative College, Ijeja, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Mr. Fattah ‘Braheem, said anybody that wished to be a guarantor should be ready to assume responsibility for the debt owed by such member in the event of any default. He stressed that a guarantor should be acceptable to the committee in terms of character, savings and non-indebtedness to the society. Corroborating the keynote speaker, the immediate past Director of Ogun State Co-operative Services, Mr. Babatunde Oladipo, stated that a co-operator should not obtain loans with all his or her salary, and advised co-operators to know those to stand for very well before signing loan forms.
