As parts of efforts to improve the welfare of officers and men of the Nigerian police, the Inspector General Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu on Monday launched the Automated Cooperative Management Portal of the Nigeria Police Cooperative Multi-purpose Society Limited (POLCOOP) at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The IGP said the use of technology will improve the welfare of police personnel by making it easy for them to access loans, savings and contributions from the cooperative.
“I strongly encourage all members to embrace the change within the police cooperative society as, henceforth, no longer will the police personnel be exposed to the risk of travelling from their various commands and formations to process their loan applications, savings, withdrawals, or get their contributions balances from the cooperative headquarters in Lagos. All these services will be done just by the press of the buttons on their computer or mobile device.
“The police cooperative shall fully migrate its operations to the new portal immediately after today’s launching. This process will help to automate savings withdrawal, contribution management, loans administration, member management, automated reporting, and inventory management.
“In the long run, the automation process being advanced today will straighten the status of the police cooperative society as a leading cooperative movement providing distinctive and innovative welfare services to its members through the utilisation of ICT solutions,” he said.
He also commended the cooperative for living up to its expectation of meeting the welfare needs of the police personnel and their families for 42 years.
He said: “The police cooperative is a welfare-oriented cooperative society that was established in 1977 by Police Order No. 130 to carter for the welfare needs of personnel of the Nigerian Police Force and their families. It is the largest cooperative in Africa with well over 300,000 membership.
“Having operated for over forty years, the police cooperative society has successfully lived up to expectations in terms of bridging the welfare gaps among serving police officers and enhancing their frame of mind towards optimal performance of their duties.
“Aside the provision of soft loans, the society has ventured into massive low cost housing project and undertook other rewarding investments to straighten its status as the largest Society with the strongest capital and investment base.
“The huge membership size, wide business coverage and expansive investment profile of the society have combined to make it expedient that its operations be automated and aligned to technological dynamics.
“I am glad that the platform we are here to launch today, will take much closer to a level of end-to-end automation. This will not strengthen the accountability process within the society; it shall aid ease of doing business by the contributors, particularly, in relation to accessing the services of the Cooperative Society,” he said.
