The Sorry State Of Nigerian Prisons

The initiative by stakeholders, especially the Senate and the Federal Ministries of Justice and Interior to address the pathetic conditions of Nigerian prisons, though belated as it may be, should be commended by all well-meaning citizens.

Only recently, the Senate through its Committee on Interior gave a two-week deadline for a bill seeking to improve the deplorable conditions of our prisons.

The proposed bill which seeks to repeal the existing “Prisons Act” intends to provide a legal framework for a comprehensive overhaul of the Nigerian prison system, inherited from the colonial masters.

Similarly, the Federal Ministry of Justice and its sister Ministry of Interior have also set in motion the process of reforming our prison system through the constitution of various committees to address the appalling state of the prisons.

Interior Minister, Emmanuel Ihenacho and his Justice counterpart, Mohammed Adoke in renewed efforts by the federal government to address the matter charged the committees to work out modalities aimed at reversing the ugly situation in the nation’s prisons.

These concerted efforts of the various stakeholders are coming on the heels of many previous failed attempts and initiatives on the same subject matter.

The federal government should also ensure  that the current initiative does not fail as did the previous attempts on prisons reform.

We say this because, past dispensations, especially the Obasanjo’s administration set up a similar body on prison reform and decongestion but the recommendations of the committee did not see the light of the day.

Deliberate and concrete actions, not rhetorics, are required to make the reformation of our prisons a reality.

For instance, the current effort must seek to bring prison environment in Nigeria to minimum international standards.

In some countries prisoners are permitted to work in factories and construction firms and are allowed certain percentage of what they earn to support themselves while the rest is left for the maintenance of the prison.

Poor maintenance is the bane of Nigerian prisons and this is largely due to poor funding. Since the prison is a place of reformation and not a hell of eternal damnation, we insist that the prison must be made to be truly reformatory. We challenge the federal government and the prison authorities to see the current effort as an opportunity for all stakeholders to rescue the Nigerian prisons and their inmates from continuous decay.

Because prisons decongestion cannot be realised when 65 percent of prison inmates are Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATI), most of whom may be innocent suspects languishing in jail without conviction by any court of competent jurisdiction, the committee must also look at the legal system.

Our legal system is defective in many respects, and this, to a large extent, has impacted negatively on our prisons leading to the over-bloating of their population.

Addressing this malady therefore requires comprehensive overhaul of the country’s criminal justice system, judicial reform and executive action, all geared towards enhancing the state and condition of our prisons.

We must therefore make the difference now or never, especially against the background that the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and the National Assembly have demonstrated sufficient concern and determination at reversing the ugly state of our prisons.