Nigeria Association of Social Workers (NASoW), Lagos State chapter, has urged Nigerians to exhibit tolerance and peaceful coexistence in communities.
The chairperson, in a statement yesterday signed by the Public Relations Officer, Tessy Ozobialu and made available to reporters in Lagos on the occasion of this year’s International Social Workers’ Day, said the theme of this year’s celebration: ‘Respecting diversity through joint social action’, was apt, considering what was happening in communities.
She said as a result, her association as the umbrella professional body of recognised social workers in Nigeria, and also an affiliate member of International Federation of Social Workers (IFSN), was joining other social workers in the world to celebrate 2023 International Workers Day “and calls for tolerance and peaceful coexistence in our communities.”
According to her, “despite the oneness being promoted by all tiers of governments in Nigeria, religious killings, ethnic cleansing, cult clashes and hooliganism are witnessed in most parts, due to high level of intolerance occasioned by no respect for cultural diversities and divergent opinions/ beliefs, feeling of superiority of one’s ideas and religious beliefs to others.”
The chairperson recalled that the oneness Nigeria was enjoying in the early ‘70s “is now elusive, what is being witnessed across areas is destruction of lives and property, conflicts leading to physical assault and threats to our national unity and economic stability.”
She said it was only through collective efforts, otherwise called joint social actions that would make the world a peaceful and better place for all, where people could thrive.