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Putting it in historical perspective, an umbrella organization intended to serve as a pressure group of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise associations in Nigeria first came into existence as Congress of Small Scale Associations of Nigeria (COSSAN) at a media encounter hosted in Lagos on March 27, 2002, by Friedrich Nauman Foundation.
With Dr. Albert Olajide Akinyemi, former president of Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) emerging as its flag bearer, COSSAN was embraced by six associations, namely: All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Growing Business Foundation (GBF), Business and Professional Women (BPW), National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTs), and Nigerian Association of Women Entrepreneurs (NAWE).
Though the organization had a promising start, it soon fizzled out because of the self-aggrandizing inclinations of some members charged with the responsibilities critical to its success and survival. Since then, the need for the small and medium enterprise sector to come under an umbrella organization continued to gain traction at every event where the underperformance of the economy in respect to the SME sector, was on the front burner.
Thank goodness, thirteen years after the demise of COSSAN, the idea of an umbrella organization resurged with a new thinking and a new name. The move to bring the idea back to life began on September 3, 2015 through a process initiated, yet again, by the former president of NASSI, Dr. Albert Olajide Akinyemi with Mrs Rose D. Gyar of Global Centre for Human Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development (GLOCHEED), mobilizing BMO leaderships for an inaugural meeting to consider the desirability and possibility of setting up an umbrella organization intended to serve as a pressure group of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise associations in Nigeria first came into existence as Congress of Small Scale Associations of Nigeria (COSSAN) at a media encounter hosted in Lagos on March 27, 2002, by Friedrich Nauman Foundation.
With Dr. Albert Olajide Akinyemi, former president of Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) emerging as its flag bearer, COSSAN was embraced by six associations, namely: All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Growing Business Foundation (GBF), Business and Professional Women (BPW), National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTs), and Nigerian Association of Women Entrepreneurs (NAWE). Though the organization had a promising start, it soon fizzled out because of the self-aggrandizing inclinations of some members charged with the responsibilities critical to its success and survival. Since then, the need for the small and medium enterprise sector to come under an umbrella organization continued to gain traction at every event where the underperformance of the economy in respect to the SME sector, was on the front burner.
Thank goodness, thirteen years after the demise of COSSAN, the idea of an umbrella organization resurged with a new thinking and a new name. The move to bring the idea back to life began on September 3, 2015 through a process initiated, yet again, by the former president of NASSI, Dr. Albert Olajide Akinyemi with Mrs Rose D. Gyar of Global Centre for Human Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development (GLOCHEED), mobilizing BMO leaderships for an inaugural meeting to consider the desirability and possibility of setting up an umbrella organization for all MSME associations in Nigeria.
With Alhaji Garba Ibrahim Gusau, mni, mfr, former president of National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) as chairman, the meeting was held in the former office of the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) at Ndola Crescent, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja. The following participants attended the meeting:
1. Alhaji Garba Ibrahim Gusau – National Association of small and medium Enterprise, NASME
2. Mrs Rose D. Gyar – Global Centre for Human Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development, GLOCHEED
3. Olusegun Adeleke – Concerned Small Scale Enterprises of Nigeria, COSSEN
4. Barrister Vera Ndanusa – National Association of Women Entrepreneurs, NAWE
5. Dr. U. A Hassan – Association of Gum Arabic Farmers of Nigeria
6. John Balogun – Commodity Brokers Association of Nigeria, CBAN
7. Dr. Alex Ebipua’ Koinyan – Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists, NASSI.
8. Aisha Mbaka – All Women Farmers Association of Nigeria, AWFAN
9. Favour Omini – GLOCHEED
10. Reuben Nweke – Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, CFN
11. Tony Ngbeahirinako – Independent Furniture Association of Nigeria, IFAN
At a subsequent meeting held on September 30, 2015 in the training room of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) with 52 participants from different MSME associations, it was resolved that an umbrella organization for MSME associations (BMOs) in Nigeria be established with the primary aim of creating a platform for coordination, advocacy and engagement with stakeholders for holistic approach to MSME development in Nigeria.
With a covering letter from SMEDAN and letters of intent from the associations, application bearing suggested names was submitted to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration. After a protracted bureaucratic procedure, Forum of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Business Membership Organizations of Nigeria, one of the names submitted for registration, was eventually registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission on September 7, 2018.
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