Nigeria Association of Social Workers (NASoW) has called on federal, state and local governments to immediately deploy social workers to all educational institutions across the country.
NASoW which is the umbrella body of professional social workers across the country, said this becomes necessary in order to stem the tide of bullying in schools in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that five students of Dowen College, Lagos, were alleged to have bullied and beaten 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni, to a point of coma.
The incident led to the eventual death of the student on November 30, 2021.
However, NASoW in a statement signed by its National President, Mashood Mustapha, charged governments to employ and deploy social workers to schools in order to curb the menace.
Mustapha in a statement in Ibadan, through the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the association, Musliudeen Adebayo, said school social workers have roles in providing emotional support to students by giving them a helping hands to overcome challenges.
He also used the medium to appeal to the National Assembly to re-pass the Nigerian Council for Social Work [Establishment] Bill 2020.
Mustapha while sympathising with tbe family of the victim, called for thorough investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of the deceased.
According to him, "NASoW is concerned with the incidents of bullying, oppression and victimisation of students by their colleagues in schools across the country.
"We are disturbed by the spate of violence in our educational institutions. It is a social problem that requires the intervention of social workers, and the best to handle it are school social workers.
"As social workers, we have the capacity to provide intervention programs to students in our educational institutions. Social workers are trained to provide social and emotional support to students in schools. We represent the interest of the vulnerable. That underscores the importance of school social workers .
"Governments at all levels need to employ and deploy social workers to schools - especially boarding schools. Social workers will provide psychosocial support for students at trying period to avoid what happened to Sylvester Oromoni. We need to be proactive enough to avoid future occurrences.
"On this premise, I wish to again, call on National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of social work bill.
"Our bill, Nigerian Council for Social Work Establishment Bill 2017 has earlier been passed by the National Assembly, but President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 declined to assent the bill due to some grey areas.
"The bill which has now been perfected has been sent to the National Assembly for passage. The bill is now in the Red chamber. We appealed to the National Assembly to speed up the passage for President Muhammadu Buhari to append his signature.
"Social Work profession is yet to be codified into Nigerian Law. It is pertinent to mention that our noble profession – Social Work is yet to be codified in Nigerian Law. Permit us to also appeal to the ninth National Assembly to speedily re-pass the Nigerian Council for Social Work [Establishment] Bill 2020” for Mr. President’s assent".