The Nigerian Prisons Service is
saddled with the responsibility of keeping custody of the legally interned and
reforming them to become better citizens of Nigeria. In this modern era, the
philosophy of prison globally has shifted from being punitive to a more humane
function of behaviour modification of offenders and equipping them with
requisite knowledge and skills that will afford them to adapt effectively in
the larger society when they are eventually released. In other words, prisons
are now seen as hospitals where those in conflict with the law receive
treatment and are turned out as law abiding individuals who still have a lot to
contribute to the society, and by extension, to the nation in general.
In line with this globally
accepted philosophy of prison, the present leadership of the Nigerian Prisons
Service has resolved that every offender in its custody must be trained in a
skill, while those who are educable must continue with their academic pursuit
while in custody. This has culminated into machineries being put in place to
inculcate this modern penal practice in the modus operandi of the Nigerian
prisons Service. Hence, since the inception in office by the present Controller
General of Prison, Ja’afaru Ahmed, Nigerian prisons have transformed from
oubliettes which were taunted for their penchance of hardening offenders the
more, to learning centres where prisoners learn skills, trades, and handicrafts
to be good cum functional citizens of Nigeria. The prison has gone further to
establish adult education centres in prison where prisoners can study and
achieve their life potentials and self-actualization. Also, the Nigerian
Prisons Service in collaboration with the National Open University of Nigeria
(NOUN) has established special centres in some prisons where inmates can
acquire higher education. Recently, the media have been awash with news of
prisoners graduating from various educational programmes, while others have
even enrolled for the highest educational programme- Doctor of Philosophy!
There are more cheering news coming out of our prisons now, unlike in the past
when news of jailbreaks and prisoners escapes inundated the airwaves.
The importance of providing
education opportunities for prison inmates cannot be over-emphasized. Infact,
for Nigeria to achieve a crime-free society with low rate of recidivism, it
must put prisoners’ reformation and education on the front burner. Research has
shown that crime is a function of poverty; while poverty is a function of
dearth of education. It is obvious that any society that treats the education
of its citizenry with the seriousness it deserves will turn out successful and
advanced; as an educated society is an empowered society, and an empowered society
is a crime-free society. A glance at the statistics of our prison population
shows that a large chunk of prison inmates are uneducated, and therefore, are
not empowered, leading them into criminal lifestyles that land them in prison. According to the 2017 Prison Survey Report,
the educational status of most prison inmates is relatively low with 2 out of
10 inmates who have never received any form of formal education and a large
majority who could not complete secondary education. According to the report,
the implication is that these prisoners have poor skills level, which
transcends to poor income and earning power. The poor income and earning power
of these persons led them into unscrupulous means to supplement their
take-home. No doubt that the present
security predicaments which Nigeria finds itself arose from poor education
which is occasioned by poverty. The prevalence of insurgency in the North East,
cultism and kidnapping in the South-South, Armed Robbery in the South East,
Ritual killings in the South West and the Farmers/Herdsmen clashes in the North
Central are all traced to the prevalence of low educational attainment among
Nigerians.
Hence, the Nigerian Prisons
Service deserves encomiums and commendation for bringing education to prisoners
in prison. They have taken the pains of not only providing security and other
humanitarian supports to the prisoners, but gone a step further to improve
their intellectual capabilities. The Nigerian Prisons Service should therefore
not only be applauded but also supported by well-meaning individuals,
non-governmental organizations as well as educational and examination
institutions in the achievement of this noble mandate. One of the principal
ways by which they can be encouraged in the furtherance of prisoners’ education
and reformation is through institutional support from examination bodies like
the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), West African Examination
Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), National Board for Technical
Education (NABTEB), Education Resource Centres (ERC) in all states of the
federation and so on. Reports show that these examination bodies still charge
full registration fees from prisoners when they seek to register for
examinations, irrespective of the fact that these prisoners are disadvantaged
and have no means of financial independence.
The Guardian and Independent Newspapers of 10th February,
2018 reported that forty (40) inmates of the Borstal Training Institution,
Abeokuta, Ogun state were registered for the SSCE and UTME. According to the
reports, the principal of the Institution decried the trouble they had to go
through to raise funds to register these inmates. She went further to say that
even staff of the facility made financial contribution towards registering
these lads for the said examinations. This is not encouraging at all as it
makes mockery of the sincere efforts of the prison authority who have
painstakingly prepared these inmates for the various examinations.
It is expected that being a
disadvantaged group, prisoners should be given waivers in the registration for
these examinations to serve as a morale booster to them as well as relief to
the prison authority who take pains to cater for and prepare these prisoners
for the various examinations. Asking them to raise these huge amounts for the
registration of these inmates is counterproductive and tends to retard the good
work which the prison authority is doing to see that the legally interned turn
out into better citizens. At present, the prison authority has a handful by
sourcing for educational materials such as books, writing materials, teaching
materials and qualified teachers to tutor these inmates. Therefore,
over-burdening the service with raising funds to register prison inmates for
these examinations is unfair; and we would be pushing our luck too far if we
allow such to continue.
The various examination bodies
should borrow a leaf from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) which
has waived tuition fee for all prison inmates in Nigeria. Presently, any prison
inmate who intends to study for any programme in the NOUN will do so without
paying a dime in line with the university’s quest to fulfill its corporate
social responsibility and providing accessible and enhanced education anchored
by social justice, equity, equality and national cohesion that transcends all
barriers. This initiative by the University is the ideal practice taking into
cognizance of the shortage of sponsorship offers for prison inmates in Nigeria.
Interestingly, this gesture by the University has started to yield results as
there are reports of prison inmates graduating with exceptional results and
other academic achievements. The partnership of the Nigerian Prisons Service
with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is the best thing that has
happened to the prison system in recent times. And it is believed that more
positive outcomes are expected from this partnership in the near future. The
NOUN which is a foremost university has inscribed its name in the annals of
history by this gesture of providing waiver for prison inmates. No wonder the
young university is waxing strong and making waves in the academic circle in
Nigeria!
This is a clarion call to
educational and examination bodies in Nigeria to reconsider their stance on
registration of prisoners for their respective examinations. Prisoners are
disadvantaged persons in our society who should be supported in their quest for
genuine and effective reformation. It is no mean feat to be in prison and at
the same time have the sound and focused mind to study. The excruciating
environment, the deprivation of liberty and the restrictions on normal everyday
activity are strong extraneous factors that can dissuade one from having the
psychological balance and focus needed in academics. For these prisoners to
rise above these challenges in the quest for knowledge and academic pursuit, it
behoves on everybody including all relevant institutions to support and give
them all the incentives they require. Therefore, educational and examination
bodies such as WAEC, NECO, JAMB, NABTEB, Distance Learning Institutions and so
on are enjoined to support the Nigerian Prisons Service in its drive to reform
prison inmates, by granting free registration to prison inmates nationwide,
just like the NOUN is doing.
Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi, a Deputy Superintendent of Prisons, teaches
prison inmates and writes from Makurdi, Benue state.
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