The Nigeria Association of Social Worker (NASoW) has urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Social Work (Establishment) Bill pending before it.
It said the delay in passing the bill had contributed to increase in killings, human rights abuses and poverty.
NASoW’s National President Alhaji Moshood Mustapha said yesterday in Ado-Ekiti at a news conference marking the 2022 World’s Social Work Day, with the theme: ‘Co-Building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind’,
that allowing the bill to remain un-passed had hindered the group from giving the right fight to protect Nigerians, thereby triggering social injustices such as killings, kidnappings, poverty, gender inequality, economic deprivation and other social ills.
He said the bill was re-presented last month to legalise the operations of social workers, whose cardinal objectives were to prevent social injustice and promote human right.
Said he: “Social workers are to promote social, political and economic growth of a nation. We are to advocate the rights of citizens regarding their social, economic , legal and physical welfare, so that we can all feel the dividends of democracy.”
The NaSoW Chairman, Ekiti State chapter, Mr. Temitope Adewusi, said the association conferred award on Ekiti State governor’s wife, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, for organising programmes to ensure women empowerment, gender equality, rights protection and others.
He said: “The second tenure of Governor Kayode Fayemi is a boom for the social work profession, as series of laws such as the Ekiti State Mental Health Law, Female Genital Mutilation Law and Gender-based Violence Prohibition Law were passed by the House of Assembly and assented to by the governor in line with the social work principles.”