IMPACT OF COOPERATIVE ON SELECTED SMALL BUSINESS IN IJEBU NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OGUN STATE.

This study investigated the impact of cooperative society on selected small businesses in Ijebu-North, Ogun State. It specifically examined the impact of cooperative society loans on the operation of small businesses, identified the role of cooperative society in sustaining small businesses, and identified the challenges of small businesses in IjebuNorth. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. A multistage sampling technique was used to select eighty (80) respondents from five cooperative societies in Ijebu-North, Ogun State. A well-structured questionnaire was used to gather information from the respondents. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics for the demographic information and one sample test to analyse the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that cooperative loans play a significant role in supporting and enhancing the operation and success of small-scale businesses in Ijebu-North. Findings revealed that cooperative loans have a significant contribution to small-scale businesses in Ogun State. Also, the study revealed that small-scale businesses face a range of constraints in accessing cooperative society loans, including poor infrastructure, high financial service costs, and high tax rates. The result of the hypotheses suggests that there is a significant impact of cooperative loans on the operation of small-scale businesses in Ijebu North Local Government Area, Ogun State. It was concluded that cooperative societies play a significant role in sustaining these businesses. Among other recommendations is that steps should be taken to improve the accessibility of cooperative society loans.