ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by reiterating the importance of history for Nigerian social workers struggling to understand why the achievement of government recognition for their profession and its contribution to society has proved so difficult. In the belief that knowledge of Nigeria's welfare history might aid understanding of the profession's struggles in the present, this chapter revisits the historical literature in and outside social work and, using a postcolonial lens, seeks to provide further insight on why social work's attempts to professionalise have failed to produce desired results and secure its legitimacy in Nigerian society. By adopting a postcolonial lens, the chapter seeks to go beyond descriptive historical accounts of social work and social welfare to extend understanding of social workers’ struggle to gain professional recognition, discussed in Chapter 8. Revisiting history, it examines precolonial indigenous support systems and the reclamation-of-culture discourse in social work before reviewing precolonial, colonial, and post-independence developments in welfare and social work.
