Why Correctional Service Centres Need Better Attention

The aim of the Prisons Act 1972 is to provide a body of rules for the comprehensive administration of prisons in Nigeria and the careful management of the correctional facilities created for individuals who violate the laws of the State and the federation.
The origin of modern Correctional Service in Nigeria dated back as early as 1861. That was the year when conceptional, Western-type prison was established in Nigeria.
The declaration of Lagos as a colony in the said year (1861), marked the beginning of the institution of formal machinery of governance. Those who were instrumental to the creation of the prison did so to aid in fine-tuning men/women who for any reason was found guilty by the law of the land.
The intention of the prison administration was never to build up any sort of stigmatisation against inmates upon their release or treat them with less regard while they remain ‘guest’ of the prison administrators.
No sane member of the society may decide to make the prison his or her place of abode. Some in most cases find themselves there in an unknown circumstance or what is never their own fault.
At times, the argument may be twisted to the point of utter disbelief of the suspect’s claims of innocence. I can recall vividly well some time last year when I visited one of the prison facilities in Rivers State. An inmate there said his mother-in-law just ‘brought’ him there because her daughter (the inmate’s wife) and child were involved in an inferno at the residence due to kerosene explosion from their cooking stove.
The inferno as the inmate claimed never occurred due to his negligence or whatever reason. To him, it was just a mere show of power on the mother-in-law’s side.
Several of such cases are too visible in the Correctional Service Centres of today. Going by the name ‘ Correctional Service Centre’, no one should have gone to the prison without experiencing ‘baptism of fire’ as intended by the founding fathers.
This baptism of fire, would have helped to reduce the burdens of the officers who I sympathise with due to the level of stress and challenges they face on daily basis. A close look at the officers will reveal a lot of things to a rational thinker.
The way and manner the officers handle the inmates, some parents cannot even treat their children or wards in like manner. At times, one begins to imagine whether or not the officers were pretending, but regular visits of the prisons disabused my mind.
The prison has its own superlative administrative style. They have their Perfects who command others on how to carry themselves in the facility.
They rule or control with less stress. Everyone knows exactly what to do and what not to do. Their laws or rules, if you ask me, are supreme. For instance, the Olowu (headman), has an overiding power/ authority over others.
His orders can never be challenged or thwarted by anyone. They obey him (Olowu) absolutely. His stature or size is immaterial so far as he is so crowned.
In most of the prisons I have visited in course of my jobs (please spare me details), I was meant to understand that in the prison, a goat can rule a lion. This to my mind, suggests a well tailored system of governance where everyone knows his/her boundary.
They do not struggle to get what is due anyone. They know their ‘Kings’ and respect them in an extraordinary manner.
My encounter with an Olowu in one of the prisons in Rivers State on Friday, October 27, 2023 formed part of the reasons for this piece. I actually incurred his wrath. When his Second-In-Command, came closer me and explained things, I felt bad for disobliging the Olowu.
His request was not tasking or too difficult to meet, but he was just a victim of circumstances who received the treatment reserved for someone else.
The Olowu’s Second-In-Command, who saw reasons with me, actually promised a better deal should I visit the area anytime soon. You can see the sincerity in an attempt to fix things between one’s boss and a stranger.
To him (2/ic), issues should not have risen between them and their visitor. The Olowu with just a wave of the hand, called his boy back from following me which he obeyed with little or no hesitation.
Now looking at the aim of the prison creation as captured above, one cannot but nod in total disagreement that the government is the major challenge towards the proper achievement of the aims and objectives of the prison.
If both the inmates and officers are living up to expectations in the facility, nothing under the sun should dissuade the government from meeting up with its responsibilities too.
Sometime ago, the hairs of every rational Nigerian stood tall when the rumour of about N4 billion worth of beddings and other materials meant for the welfare of prison inmates got lost on ‘transit’. Till date, no meaningful development or report has been made in that regard.
No one could muster enough courage to confront the issue. Everyone including the high and mighty kept mute till date. What a sorry situation?
The government ought to be held responsible at this point. The Act establishing the Prison Service also has a punishment section. Ordinarily, the government would have employed its entire arsenal to protect the defenseless members of the society like the inmates.
Let the powers that be not let the people believe that their inabilities to protect and/or provide for the free citizens are also the challenge of those incarcerated. If the present economic earthquakes in the country continue to shake the system, efforts must be made towards the improvement of the welfare of those in prison custody in order to avoid looming disaster.
Well, a tail less cow as the saying goes, ‘has its flies driven away by its god’. The churches are doing their best in an attempt to make the inmates have human treatment and feelings.
They (churches) visit the prison at random. Some even have Prison Ministry, where they organise themselves and visit the prisons once in awhile with sundry gift items including cooked foods.
One may be forced to think that everyone in the country has been abandoned to his/her fate. If not so, how can a sector in the system think of providing its members with exotic automobiles that cost several millions of naira in this period when some families cannot even boast of providing three square meals for their children or wards?
For the Prison Service to maintain its core mandate of correcting some morally fractured members of the society and otherwise, the government should not withhold its attention from them. Some of them can still come out from the prisons to rule us tomorrow (if my memories serve me right, we have one down already).
That is why every effort must be made towards the improvement of welfare packages for inmates and officers of the prison.
If they (inmates), can use the goat, to rule the lion, that means they have clues on how best to redeem us from the clutches of whatever thing that is holding us ransom at the moment.

By: King Onunwor