President Muhammadu Buhari has received praise from the Nigeria Association of Social Workers (NASoW) for enacting the National Council for Social Work [Establishment] Bill 2022.
The group pointed out that the country’s social work profession is now officially permitted under the law.
These revelations were made by the association in a statement issued by it and signed by its president, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, a copy of which was sent to media on Thursday by the association’s public relations officer, Mr. Musliudeen Adebayo.
The National Council for Social Work [Establishment] Bill 2022 was signed into law on Tuesday, as the organisation stated in the statement.
It was learned that the National Assembly had previously passed the bill into law. On Tuesday, June 28, 2022, the Senate approved the Bill into law.
The association claimed that enacting the measure would boost social work practise in the nation and help to regulate it in Nigeria in the same way that it is done in other parts of the world.
While praising Buhari and the National Assembly for their work, Mustapha noted that the group has been agitating for the bill’s passage for more than 20 years.
He claimed that because it will aid in the legalisation of social work practise in the nation via a parliamentary act, the law is a significant accomplishment of the 9th National Assembly and President Buhari.
The National Council for Social Work, which the government would oversee, will be recognised by the new law, he continued.
Mustapha said, “We commend, applaud and salute President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting the National Council for Social Work [Establishment] Bill (2022). We also commend the National Assembly over the passage of the bill into law.
“The new law seeks to establish the National Council for Social Work that would regulate social work practice in Nigeria and the Council’s activities will be regulated by a governing body that will be appointed by the Federal Government
“The council, among other things, shall promote professional practice and uphold Social Work ethics and values. The Council, according to the law shall determine what standards of knowledge and skills are to be attained by persons seeking to become member of the profession of social work and review those standards from time to time, as circumstances demand”.
Speaking further, the National President listed various roles played by social workers in the nation, saying that these roles would be carried out successfully now that the law had been signed.
“Across the globe, social workers perform various functions to individuals, families, groups, communities and organisations who are in distress, the homeless, persons with disabilities, aged, the sick, the mentally ill, juvenile, and children and Nigeria should not be an exception.”
“Social workers are found in hospitals, family courts, schools, police formations, rehabilitation centres, correctional facilities, old people homes, NGOs, civil society organisations among others providing psychosocial support, emotional support and counseling for individuals and groups to overcome their social problems so as to realize their potentials and function effectively in their societies. These roles cannot be performed by social workers effectively without a regulatory framework. The law is the regulatory framework that will regulate, legalise, monitor and control the activities of social workers in the country the way it is done in other countries”.
