A senior lecturer in the Department of Social Work, University of Ibadan, Dr Abimbola Afolabi has advised Nigerian social workers to treat their clients in line with the principles and ethics of Social Work profession.
Afolabi gave this admonition on Tuesday in Ibadan while delivering a paper as one of the guest speakers at World Social Work Day organised by Nigeria Association of Social Workers (NASoW) Oyo State chapter.
The don while speaking on this year’s theme “Co-building hope and harmony: A Harambee Call to Unite a Divided Society” called on Nigerian social workers to treat and relate with their clients without fear of favour.
She said “We should treat and relate with people not based on their ethnic, religious or language. There are a lot of divisions in Nigeria and these are given us as social workers more work to do. These inequalities are causing more social problems in our society for us to solve. Social Work is preaching unity and not disunity. No matter your religion, ethnic background, we have to preach unity. When there is a conflict, it will affect everybody.
“As social workers we have to encourage unity and discourage disunity. So everyone has one role or the other to play. We must be able to carry out our duties responsibly. As social workers your are not there to add to the problems, you are there to provide the solutions to the problems”.
The second guest speaker, Dr Victoria Iyanda from the department of Behavioral Science, Lead City University, Ibadan, called on governments at all levels to engage more social workers in tackling the social problems facing the citizens and the country in general.
She also called for a a trauma-informed social work practice saying that trauma affects everybody in the society.
Iyanda said, “Government should involve social workers, in the North, at IDP camps, government should engage the social workers. Nigeria is more divided now. Are we not divided. We see that individuals, families and communities experience trauma. That is why we need trauma-informed social work practice across all settings.
“Social Workers operate in Social welfare settings. We are using the same pattern. You can practice anywhere. Trauma affects everybody. Trauma-informed social work is what we should advocate for. Collaborate, refer when you don’t have the capacity to help. Social Workers are change agents. Trauma-informed care should be integrated in our practice”.
NASoW National President, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha who was represented by National Public Relations Officer of the association, Mr Musliudeen Adebayo in his goodwill message congratulate Social Workers in the state for seeing another Social Work month.
He said that the essence of World Social Work Day is to recognise the contributions of social workers across the globe and to raise awareness about the profession.
“I am here to perform two roles, to represent the National President and also as a member of NASoW in Oyo State. The National President, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha sent me to congratulate all of us on this occasion. World Social Work Day usually come up on the third Tuesday of every March. But the whole month of March is social work month. It is to celebrate the achievements of social workers across the globe and to raise awareness about the profession.
“The current administration has achieved a lot of things since we came on board. We were able to ensure that we have Nigerian Council for Social Work Act. It was been signed into law and gazetted, we hosted International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) African Region conference in Lagos in 2023 and we have secured a land in Abuja for the construction of our national Secretariat, we have started and it is under construction in Abuja. There are some other things we have done since we came on board. So, on behalf of the National President of NASoW, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, I wish to congratulate us all and wish us happy celebration”.
NASoW Chairman, Mr Ayodele Adegoke in his welcome address urged members of the association to continue to play their own roles in the society.
