By Peter Ayoade
The umbrella body of all Social Workers in Nigeria, Nigeria Association of Social Workers (NASoW) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the high cost of living and geometric inflation of prices of food items and other essential services in the country.
The association also pleaded with the President to find ways of reducing high price of energy, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other utilities in the country.
NASoW maintained that the need to urgently address these problems is necessary in order to make life comfortable for the citizens of the country.
NASoW in a communiqe issued at the end of its 36th NEC/ Council meeting held in Abuja condemned the spate of killings across the country, especially the recent killings of 43 rice farmers in Borno state.
The association in the communiqué signed by its three-man communiqué drafting committee led by Jamilu Musa (Chairman), Musliudeen Adebayo and Rachel John called upon the federal and state governments to further intensify efforts towards amelioration of poverty and unemployment among youths in Nigeria.
NASoW commended the National Assembly over its efforts towards the passage of the bill for the establishment of Nigeria council for social work.
The association said that it believed that regulation of Social Work practice will not only improve the quality and quantity of social work service delivery but also contribute immensely towards amelioration of crises tendencies in Nigeria.
NASoW while speaking further called on government at all levels and the National Assembly to look into and increase budgetary allocation to social development sub-sector giving the reality on ground.
“We commensurate with the federal Government of Nigeria on the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging the country and the demand that comes with the challenges. And call for a commitment towards playing our part in ensuring the right things are done for the populace and be mindful of our action during this pandemic.
“We commensurate with government and people of Nigeria over the series of tragic incidences of kidnapping and loss of lives of law abiding citizens especially the recent killings of 43 rice farmers in Borno state. While we pray against such occurrences, we used this medium to appeal to all the tiers of government to urgently address series of killings in the country. We hereby appeal to the federal government to put measures in place to improve security situation across the country.
“We call upon the federal and state governments to further intensify efforts towards amelioration of poverty and unemployment among youths in Nigeria. We urged the governments at all levels to improve the state of heath care delivery, education and other social services.
“We appreciate the efforts of the federal government over its various social protection measures such as N-Power, trader money, youth empowerment programs among other policies towards improvement of living standard of the people. Yet, we call for urgent measures to reduce the high cost of living, geometric inflation, high rate of energy, PMS, and other utilities.
“We commend the National Assembly over its efforts towards the passage of the bill for the establishment of Nigeria council for social work. We held that regulation of Social Work practice will not only improve the quality and quantity of social work service delivery but also contribute immensely towards amelioration of crises tendencies in Nigeria.
“We call on government at all levels as well as the National Assembly to look into and increase budgetary allocation to social development sub-sector giving the reality on ground.
“The council affirmed that 2021 AGM of the association will be held in Lagos state in November, while the 2021 Council meeting will be held in Niger state in July 2021.
“The council commends the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter for successful hosting of the NEC/Council meeting.”
