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Imperatives of social welfare as catalyst for good citizenship

By Emeka Anuforo, Abuja
15 February 2015   |   11:00 pm
“POUNDED at home and desperate to keep hope alive, Nigerians are among the top nationalities fleeing their own country and seeking asylum in industrialized nations…” says an article by The Guardian.   Indeed, many Nigerians yearn for sojourn outside the country. This unfortunate trend is not limited to any age group.  It involves the young…

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“POUNDED at home and desperate to keep hope alive, Nigerians are among the top nationalities fleeing their own country and seeking asylum in industrialized nations…” says an article by The Guardian.

  Indeed, many Nigerians yearn for sojourn outside the country. This unfortunate trend is not limited to any age group.  It involves the young and the old.

  The government of Nigeria had at various times put up campaigns to stem the trend. However, most of the campaigns, according to experts, are rooted in shallow thoughts and cosmetic approaches with little or no impact on reversing the trend.  

  It is no longer strange to hear that securing visas to travel out of Nigeria has formed a major component of testimonies in religious centres. People now find all avenues to run away from the perceived hopelessness and excessive social pressure. 

 There is a professional conclusion that the major difference between Nigeria and the advance world is the level and quality of social work practice.

 For instance, in the United States of America, where many Nigerians troop to for ‘greener pastures’, government has welfare programs  put in place to assist the unemployed or underemployed. Help is extended to the poor through a variety of welfare programs that include Medicaid, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).

 Executive Director of the Institute of Social Work of Nigeria, Lagos, Mr. John Emaimo, in an interview with The Guardian, identified the quality and level of social practice in some countries as the biggest attraction for Nigerians flocking to embassies for visas on a daily basis.

  He said: “All the leaders in Nigeria are aware that in United Kingdom and USA, unemployment benefits are paid to unemployed youths. Old age benefits are paid to aged citizens. School pupils are guaranteed meals at schools and young adults are housed. Transportation system works and agriculture is given priority attention. 

 “Therefore reckless responsibilities are pulled off the neck of citizens, allowing them to get focused and contribute effectively to national development.”

  In an attempt to address the social work practice along the global terrain, Nigerian practitioners in 2007 made concerned efforts towards institutionalizing social work practice in Nigeria. This resulted in the approval and registration of Institute of Social Work of Nigeria (ISOWN) in 2009. The Institute, which has since gone into operation,  is saddled with the task  of setting standards in social work practice; reviewing such standards from time to time; maintenance of register of practitioners and liaising with relevant bodies in Nigeria and overseas for the purpose of furthering the practice. 

 According to Emaimo, “This was the starting point in Nigerian professional social work practice and has yielded tremendous result in sharpening the practice and study of social work in the country.”

  On how the Institute was laying the foundation for social welfare practice in the country, he stressed: “The Institute’s first port of call was the reorganizing of social work practice and differentiating between common sense social work practitioners, who unfortunately were occupying government positions for decision making in social work terrain. Registration was extended to all, but compulsory skills improvement trainings was a cardinal condition for membership. Currently, all new membership registration is by examination as is applicable in all serious minded professions.”

 He said, though the Nigerian government had recognized the importance of social work in the social welfare systems, the issue of what he described as ‘square pegs in round holes’ remains the greatest challenge to the growth of the practice.

 He said: “A greater number of officers manning social work responsibilities in the country have no business being there in the first instance. Many have never been trained in social work prior to their appointment, and they are not aware of the importance of social work in the lives of the citizenry. So they perceive their positions as opportunity to feed on the vulnerable, cart home materials, donations and items belonging to them. They, therefore, resort to arresting destitute and getting them to bail themselves with money. They also connive with dubious home owners and promote baby and child racketing. These are just a few of the misdeeds which such officers resort to.

 “Registered professionals who takes oath of allegiance for ethical practice prior to induction into professional body really understand the implication of all these, ISOWN is putting this on check.”

  In order to improve the skills of the existing officers and perhaps change their orientation, ISOWN last week embarked on state wide skill improvement training programme. The training, according to the Institute, was for heads and deputies responsible for social work responsibilities in all local government areas in some states. The target states were Ondo, Lagos, Akwa Ibom. Plateau, Oyo, Taraba, Cross River, Delta, Osun and FCT. A good number of practitioners in these states, according to Emaimo, were trained, most times in partnership with the Local Government Service Commission. 

 ISOWN has also established chapters in all states of the federation and the FCT.

 According to Emaimo, “The skills improvement programmes were designed to equip the participants with the ability to cascade the training in their various local governments by drawing one officer each from their wards and it is ongoing. 

  “Our research also indicated a weakness in the areas of middle level manpower in social work practice, given the fact that the majority of practitioners presently came into social work by chance and never chose social work as a career. Many of them are senior in rank, holding either Postgraduate Diploma and/ or Master degrees. ISOWN has already constituted an academic committee which has finalized curricula for ND/HND in social work. This has been circulated to all Polytechnics in Nigeria and five federal polytechnics have signified interest in the programme. A copy has also been sent to NBTE for processing.” 

 He also canvassed a special ministry for that purpose.

 His words: “Prominent structural challenge of the profession cannot be addressed without calling on the federal government to redefine social work and empower it by creating a separate Ministry or a strong agency to propel the policy perspectives.”

 In Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development was crested to build a Nigerian Society that guarantees equal access to social, economic and wealth creation opportunities to all, irrespective of gender, places premium on protection of the child, the aged and persons with disabilities.

 But there is a general clamour among experts for a separate entity to handle the social welfare of citizens, as is done professionally in most developed climes.

 He noted: “The present misconception of Ministry of Women Affairs as the domicile Ministry for social work activities has reduced social work service to philanthropy and gratification. This has also led to the employment and use of non social work professionals as technical directors responsible for social welfare, child development, rehabilitation, women development, among others.  This ordinarily requires the service of professionally trained social workers with strong skills in social work policy.

 “All over the world, social work stands, and is recognized as the pillar of social well being and determinant of citizens’ sense of belonging. Nigeria has trivialized the importance of this all important profession by creating social work agencies and filling them up with non professional social workers. Statistics has it that almost every state in Nigeria has average of three hundred social workers deployed to various local government areas. The responsibility of addressing social welfare, community development and associated challenges, therefore, rested on common sense till the emergence of ISOWN.”

 He said the body has developed a charter bill to the National Assembly and is currently engaged in training and retraining of relevant professionals in the industry.

 He stressed: “ISOWN is vigorously intensifying efforts on continuous training, through seminars, workshops, conferences and publications in order to address existing skill gap in the field of social work in Nigeria. Effort is also being put in place to persuade government ministries and agencies to buy into the programmes so as to achieve the purpose of government funds allocated to this sector. This will also give Nigerians a feeling of government. Many social workers in the public sector are comfortable with their status quo based on personal benefits, but the citizenry is swindled by the unprofessional services rendered. Additionally, government agencies need to propel their personnel towards the new direction for the benefits of the people.

 “ISOWN has articulated a bill for a charter and submitted same to the National Assembly. This is expected to give a stronger legal content above the approval of the Attorney General of the Federation presently in force.”

 There is a strong believe among stakeholders, as well as indicators that effective and professional social work practice is capable of changing the society for the better. 

 “The present social welfare system where all youth are expected to go fend for themselves by any means known to them; elderly left entirely on the shoulders of their children or relatives regardless of their previous contributions to the nation; and even pensioners left to feel inferior in the face of abundant income require a redress. This is where experts are canvassing the involvement of professional social workers. It is believed that this would reposition Nigeria to a caring nation that guarantees hope and selfless service,” Emaimo noted.

 In this regard, ISOWN has positioned a well articulated professional proficiency programme fashioned along global standards.

  “This is to accelerate speedy reorganization and intervention of the social challenges in the country and beyond. Nigerian practitioners abroad who were granted direct membership earlier are also to be examined from now onward,” the Institute says.

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