Abstract
Some part of this study was covered by Dr. S.O. Adeyeye. His work published in 1978 concentrated on a general overview of cooperative movement in Nigeria. Since his work, there has been remarkably little or no research into the development of Cocoa Marketing Cooperatives' policies. A review of this study shows that Adeyeye carried out a historical work which did not account for the emergence of cocoa marketing policies during the early years of self government in Nigeria and what effect these policies had on the cooperatives' ability to practice their principle of democratic control. Our study is an attempt to fill in this important part of Marketing Coperatives' history. The theoretical part reviewed the conceptual framework of cooperative ideals and principles which enabled us to examine the operational policies of Cocoa Marketing Cooperatives in Nigeria, against the cooperatives' principle of democratic control. Our finding is that the adoption of cooperatives' principle of democratic control was not encouraged by the Governments who took the responsibility of promoting cooperatives in Nigeria, There was no provision for basic training in democratic procedure which is essential for any cooperative to be an independent viable organisation. The absence of cooperative education culminated in corruption and inefficient administration of the cooperative which was widespread over the period under study. Finally, the study acknowledges the difficulties of applying the cooperative principles in a real world, but recommended that it is of the utmost importance that cooperative organisations as they try to survive in a real world, should find new ways of putting principles into practice because the principles enable any cooperative organisation to fulfil the basis of its formation, that is, the promotion of members interests. The principle of democratic control to some extent indicates who the members are and allows them the right to determine for themselves what is their common need and how the need would mutually be met. The idea of the cooperative was born out of ideally felt need of members. It is a means of self help through mutual help, hence members should participate actively in all activities of the organization. The methodology applied to this study includes descriptive analysis, field work, archival and documentary research, informal discussion and the author's personal observations.