Mel Gray and Solomon Amadasun (2023). Social work, social welfare, and social development in Nigeria: A postcolonial perspective. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-38212-6 (ebk). Pages 186

Abstract

The lack of African social work literature and an overreliance on Western literature have led to calls for African scholars to produce rich social work texts to support Africa’s decolonisation agenda. In Social Work, Social Welfare, and Social Development in Nigeria: A Postcolonial Perspective, Mel Gray and Solomon Ahmadasun offer a key text on social work in Nigeria. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, is its most populated country, and is one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. The book provides a context-specific overview of social work, social welfare, and social development in Nigeria, addressing the unique social problems of the country. Professor Mel Gray, a celebrated veteran social work author, is one of the leading voices on social development worldwide and has made significant contributions to social development discourse for over 30 years. Solomon Ahmadasun is also one of the leading voices in Nigerian social work circles. A thorough exploration of the whole book will allow the reader to grasp the primary emphasis of the authors, which is to “…appeal for government to recognise the profession's valuable contribution to Nigerian welfare and social development…” (p. 7). To this end, the book starts with a detailed overview of Nigeria and postcolonial scholarship in African social work— which suggested the title of the book and sets the stage for the chapters. The authors managed to capture attempts to decolonise African social work from the first wave of decolonisation through the seminal work of Shawky (1972) and Ragab (1982) down to the third wave of decolonisation which “…argued for a much more radical transformation of social work…” (p. 6).