The Nigeria Association of Social Workers, the umbrella body of all social workers in the country, has urged President Muhamadu Buhari to urgently address high cost of living and geometric inflation of prices of food items and other essential services.
The association also appealed to 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 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 namely 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 further called on government at all levels and the National Assembly to look into and increase budgetary allocation to social development sub-sector, given the reality on ground.
“We commiserate with the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging the country and the demand that comes with the challenges. We 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 commiserate 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 use 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 urge government at all levels to improve the state of heath care delivery, education and other social services.
“We appreciate the efforts of the Federal Government in its various social protection measures such as N-Power, trader money, youth empowerment programmes 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 for its efforts towards the passage of the bill for the establishment of Nigeria council for social work. We hold 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.
“The council commends the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter for successful hosting of the NEC/Council meeting.”