THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP PARTICIPATION IN PROMOTING COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN NIGERIA
INTRODUCTION
According to Ogbu (2007); the word cooperative is a collective noun as well as the cooperative society. Cooperative implying to work together among a group of persons originated from time immemorial. This could clearly distinguish between cooperative on the basis of time as short term/coincidental and long term/permanent as well as informal and formal traditional modern scientific, genuine pure and psendo cooperatives, para-cooperatives.
This could in the widest sense, reveal that cooperative means more than working together, but people working together to achieve commonly felt need.
Hence, it is as old as man otherwise, instinctive. The cradle of cooperative in that crude sense, is the formally characterized by give and take concept.
In this method, the people involved are “Mutual’s†among whom are characterized by stark illiteracy, informalized structure short  live existence and absence of legality, mainly engaging in productivity venture without effective management.
On the contrary, modern scientific cooperatives are originated on the bench mark of the industrial revolution in Europe spanning a century (1750-1850).
As such, they are formal legal entities in business undertaking as a body cooperate and adhering to the internationally acceptable principles. Cooperative are purely on special type of business units, others namely: the sole-proprietorship, the partnership, Joint stock companies and parastatals. The modern scientific cooperative enterprises could be established in all economic systems, be it socialist or communist, capitalism or free market as well as mixed economic system.
It could be formed by business owned persons, workers, rich, poor, and averagely poor, in the society. Thus, it has been characterized in many ways, but mainly flexible.
2.2.The Concept of Leadership
According to Norbet M. Ile (1999), defined leadership as a process where one exerts social influence over members of a group.
Leadership is also the process of influencing others to work willingly and to the best of there capabilities towards the goals of the leader.
