NEED FOR NOMENCLATURE REFORMS OF THE NIGERIAN PRISONS SERVICE

 The term ‘prison’ is the colloquial name for ‘corrections.’ A lay person may observe no difference between the two terms – prison and corrections - but a wide gap separates the two concepts. Now, let us take a voyage into the clarification of both concepts for a better understanding of the argument I want to put forward.

Basically, a prison can be defined as a place where social misfits and those who are at conflict with the law are kept for punishment or awaiting the determination of their cases in the law court. The emphasis here is on the containment, control and punishment of prisoners. This function of containment and control summarizes the first and primary mandate of the Nigerian Prisons Service which is the safe custody of the legally interned. Indeed, every prison system all over the world have it as a priority to keep prison inmates from escaping from lawful detention in order to protect the society from their nefarious acts. Examples of prisons are jails and penitentiaries. A jail is known in Nigeria as medium security prison and it is primarily used for prisoners being detained in Awaiting trial status and misdemeanants prisoners serving sentences less than two years; and because the profiles on the offenders are incomplete, they are focused on containment and prisoner movement to and fro courts. Penitentiaries or what we should have referred to as maximum security prisons in Nigeria are usually high security prisons designed to hold dangerous offenders or those serving extremely long sentences.

Corrections on the other hand not only focus on containment and control of prisoners, but in addition provides them with opportunities for change and successful re-entry into the society by offering them education and vocational programmes, drug treatment and rehabilitation, as well as life-skill training. Example of corrections is the correctional centre, borstal institutions, and other forms of imprisonment geared towards reformation, rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners so as to make them better citizens devoid of their old criminal lifestyles.

Having clarified these concepts, suffice it to say that in the last two decades, the Nigerian prison system has evolved from containment and control of prisoners as a primary focus to providing them with the enabling environment to be trained in different endeavours that will assist them to lead responsible lives after imprisonment. However, even with this tilt of the aims of imprisonment towards a globally accepted standard that stresses more on reformation and rehabilitation instead of punishment and containment only, the system still maintains the old nomenclature which portrays it as punitive. Though there are concerted efforts to pass a bill in the National Assembly to reform the present nomenclature to capture the correctional function, the snail-speed at which it is pursued, is unfair to the beleaguered system.

Over the past three years or thereabout, there has been a boost in educational and vocational programmes available for prison inmates in the various prisons nationwide. It is no longer news that prison inmates sit for external examinations such as the Senior School Certificate Examinations, University Matriculation Examination (UME) and Trade Tests conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO), Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB), National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) respectively. It is not rocket science that prison inmates enroll and study for undergraduate degree programmes while in custody, with some of them proceeding to study for graduate degrees while simultaneously serving their terms. This is not to mention the adult and remedial educational programmes being run in our prisons nationwide with thousands of prison inmates sitting for Adult Literacy and the Basic Education Certificate Examinations.

In terms of vocational training, the service has done tremendously well through its various workshops, industries and farm centres available for the prison inmates to develop and equip themselves in different trades and skills that will enhance their smooth reintegration into their returning communities. Not only are they trained in these vocational skills, but they are provided with start-ups immediately after they are released from prison. This is the standard practice globally, thereby launching the Nigerian prison into the league of modern correctional systems in the world.

Hence, it is my submission that the ‘Prisons’ in the nomenclature of the service be expunged for the more conventional term ‘corrections.’ This will reflect the true mandate of the service and what it is presently doing to improve the lives to the inmates. This will also solve the problem of stigmatization against prison inmates and make them accepted in the society. The term ‘prison’ is stigmatizing and tends to paint those who have associations with it in bad light. But when it becomes ‘corrections,’ it will be trendier and less discriminatory. This is a passionate call to our federal lawmakers to hasten the passage of the bill that will see to the reforms in the nomenclature of the prison system in Nigeria. Not only reforms in nomenclature, but also in funding and budgetary allocations. There is also an urgent need to establish a Directorate of Custodial Education in the service which will see to the activities of the burgeoning educational activities in our prison system.

In conclusion, there is power in nomenclature. And like the popular maxim states, a good name is better than silver and gold. Also, one tends to act out his or her name. If this is so, then it is time we change the nomenclature of our penal system from the derogatory ‘Nigerian Prisons Service’ to ‘Nigerian Correctional Service.’

DSP Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi is a psychologist, criminologist, penologist and victimologist. He can be reached through his e-mail: ugwukev11@gmail.com

WHY PRISON OFFICERS SHOULD BE AVID READERS

The job of a prison officer is tasking- physically, emotionally, financially, intellectually, and even spiritually. It is a kind of job that ensconces a conglomerate of other jobs. A prison officer’s duty comprises of the duties of the police, customs, immigrations, military, civil defence, drugs law enforcement and so on.

Let me explain.

The job of a police officer is to maintain law and order in a polity. The prison officer maintains law and order in the prison yard.  And when there is chaos in the yard, the prison officer quells it. Hence, he is a police officer in the prison yard.

A custom officer scrutinizes every good and commodity coming in and going out of a polity to make sure that contrabands are not imported, or our landmark heritage are not illegally siphoned. The prison officer does same by scrutinizing every person or thing going in or coming out of the prison yard.

An immigration officer mounts the borders of a polity to disallow foreigners from entering without due permission, and conversely citizens without visas from leaving the country. So also a prison officer keeps an eagle eye to wade off unwanted persons from going into the prison yard and inmates from escaping from therein.

A military officer’s job is to protect his polity from external aggression which may come from land, air or sea. Our prison armed squad personnel perform the same function, making sure the prison is not attacked by insurgents either through land, air or sea.

A civil defence officer protects civilians, public property, installations and national monuments from being vandalized and destroyed. The prison officer also performs this function by making sure that prison properties are not wrecked or banged up.

A drugs law enforcement officer’s mandate is to minimize illicit drugs production and trafficking in a polity. Of course, a prison officer does same in a prison.

And we can go on and on and on…

Having illustrated the above, you would agree with me that the job of a prison officer being a lump of other security duties demands tact, physical fitness, mental excellence and intellectual sagacity. Hence, a typical prison officer is expected to be an embodiment of these qualities in order to be efficient on the job. Mind you that a prison officer is also a psychologist, administrator, counselor, role model, medical personnel, caterer, educationist, technician, etc. The only way a prison officer can keep abreast of all these obligations is through developing the mind by reading constantly.

Reading is important to the prison officer because it develops the mind and improves one’s intellect. The mind is a muscle that needs exercise. Understanding the written word is one way that the mind grows in its ability. The more you read, the better your grasp of phenomena, and also the more you easily decipher happenings in your environment. A sharp mind is a prerequisite for success as a prison officer because dealing with criminal minds is not a job for dullards. It demands a sixth sense which can only be developed through constant reading. When you read a book, you are taking in all that the book is about such as people, places, and things. When you read you are using your memory muscle which lies in the Cerebrum part of your brain thereby making you a smart officer.

 Reading is fundamental to the day-to-day activity of the prison officer. At the basic, it is pertinent that every prison officer must be able to read comprehensively, and write lucidly. A sentry must be able to write clear reports about happenstances in his or her beat before handing over, and also be able to read written reports about same before taking over. A prison officer must be a good reader in order to understand reports that have been written, as well as a good writer in order to write succinct reports. Hence, every prison officer must be avid readers to acquire these basic skills.

By reading, you are exposed to so many wonderful things. This helps your imagination when it comes to creating and thinking. By reading, you are painting those pictures of the story in your mind. Books can take you anywhere you want to go. You may not have been to Guantanamo Bay, but through books, you can get information about Guantanamo Bay and even discuss the operations there.

When you are reading, you are focusing and concentrating on one thing.  By sitting still and reading, you are training your body as well as your mind to be calm, relax, and focus on what you are reading. This helps your ability to focus, concentrate on details and develops the skill of observation, which is important in the prison job.

Reading improves your communication skills. Through constant reading, you are exposed to a wide range of choice words. Reading also improves your spoken language and gives you an edge in the proper use of words. It improves your syntax and diction and makes you communicate in clear language that would make people respect you when you speak. Reading gives you confidence when speaking in public events and arenas. Hence, as a prison officer, when you read, you will communicate effectively with inmates and colleagues, thereby making you an all-round officer.

Reading is the cheapest form of entertainment you can get. It offers you the best form of entertainment which improves your acumen concurrently. Many prison officers spend huge resources in beer parlours, brothels and others hoping to get entertained, but end up getting ephemeral fun. But reading is cheap and gives you the best entertainment while you save huge resources. Reading books can open up the world you might never have imagined.

Reading a book for something that you are inquisitive about saves you so much money. We all know how expensive taking classes can be, so why not spend time reading about it instead. You can teach yourself with specific books. Aside, as a prison officer, you can spur excellence in your children by reading. When you read, your children emulate from you and this will improve their school performance thereby saving you trouble of poor academic performance of your children. And when your children perform well in school, you are assured of a happy and prosperous retirement.

Now, how can you develop a life of reading?

1.       Try and buy books always. The first thing I do when I get my salary alert is to buy at least a book. Once you buy books, you will be compelled to read them.

2.       Read what interests you. It can be romance, espionage, autobiography, biographies, letters, poems, etc.

3.       Read variety of authors. It can be James Hadley Chase, Mario Puzo, Sidney Sheldon, Dean Koontz, Loveday Omu, Michael Crichton, Chimamanda Adichie, Robert Ludlum, Zainab Alkali, Kazuo Ishiguro, Chinua Achebe.

4.       Never force yourself to read a book which does not interest you. Once you start a book and after 50 pages, you are not following, drop it. There are a billion and one other waiting to be read.

5.       Keep a diary of books you have read. It gives you a sense of accomplishment.

6.       Try as much as possible to read a book in a month. You can start with a 100-page book, and as you grow in your reading dexterity, you go high up the ladder. Before you know it, you would be reading a 1500-page series.

7.       Try and read every day. Even if it is for 5 minutes, create that time. Just read something.

DSP Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi is an reader and a staff of Plateau state command.

What You Need To Know About Borstal Training Institution

The word “borstal” is actually a name of a town near Rochester, Kent, in England. The town of Borstal hosted the first institution for the detention of juvenile delinquents which started in 1902. 

One may want to know what actually brought about this kind of institution. Now let us cruise…

In the 18^th Century in the United Kingdom, prisons were administered by local justices. They were numerous with most of them being small lock-ups which were corruptly run and riddled with diseases. Several attempts were made in the United Kingdom to unify these prisons that were under the local authority.

However, in 1821, the first Federal prison was established at Millbank and it became the nucleus of a system of prisons. Between 1821 and 1894, several adjustments were made in the United Kingdom prison system starting with the establishment of a directorate which was formed in 1850 under the leadership of Colonel Jebb. The directorate was created to superintend over federal prisons which had been built in different parts of the United Kingdom. In 1877, a new Act effectively established a single prison system with central control of the federal and local prisons vested in a prison commission with its chairman being Mr. du Cane.

Mr. du Cane operated a militarized prison system where brutalization and penal labour were the order of the day. This drew the ire of the society and the media who condemned how Mr. du Cane operated the prisons. The unpopular policy of du Cane gave rise to such misgivings that a Departmental Committee under Mr. Herbert Gladstone was set up to investigate prison conditions in 1895. The committee swung into action and came out with a report which served as guidelines for the present United Kingdom prison system, and in which the idea of the borstal institution was birthed.

Due to the comprehensiveness of this report and the need to salvage the system from public and media scrutiny, du Cane was sacked and replaced with Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise who as well as founding the Borstal system in 1902, implemented many of the recommendations of the Gladstone Report which are mostly humane and liberal. And that was how the borstal system which has been adopted by many countries in the world came to be in the town of Borstal, near Rochester, Kent, England.

As provided by the 1962 Borstal Institutions and Remand Centers Act, borstal institutions are specifically designated for the institutionalization of offenders between the ages of 16-21. In practice, only the more serious juvenile offenders are committed to the borstal. In the Borstal, offenders are classified on the basis of their age, physical and mental health, length of stay period, degree of delinquency and their character. Besides, factors like sequence of the delinquency, possibilities of functioning as a contamination risk, requirements of custody, educational and vocational training needs, background, possibilities of social adjustment, prospects after release and rehabilitation needs are considered. 

Presently, there are three functional borstal training institutions in Nigeria located in Kaduna, Ilorin and Abeokuta. This is considered to be grossly inadequate as juvenile delinquency has continued to be on the rise in Nigeria. Borstal Institutions are run by the Nigerian Prisons Service. Borstal is sometimes used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory such as Juvenile Reformatory Homes, Approved Schools and Youth Detention Centres. 

The court sentence for juveniles is officially called "borstal training" and juveniles who have served this sentence are not considered as ex-convicts. In the United Kingdom, the Criminal Justice Act 1982 has since abolished the borstal system and in its place, introduced youth custody centres instead. However, the borstal system is still operated by many commonwealth countries.

Did you learn a thing here?

Research by DSP Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi, State Prison Headquarters, Jos, Plateau state.

BENUE STATE: A GOLDMINE INHABITED BY PAUPERS

I had to write this piece because until last week, I had lived and worked in Benue state which is undoubtedly the food basket of Nigeria. During my sojourn in Benue state, I observed that the state is highly blessed with agricultural potentials that can be harnessed for the benefit of Nigeria, Africa and the World in general. I also noticed that even with these potentials, the people live in penury, as most of the residents depend on salary from the feckless government who are unable to pay workers’ wages for several months. I noticed a clear disconnect between the potentials of the state and the standard of living of its people, which ought not to be.

Suffice it to say that for the period I spent in Benue state, I ate lots of fruits most notably oranges, mangoes, pineapple and a plethora of others. I also ate lots of pounded yam, akpu and other foods which were considered bourgeois in other parts of the country. One of the delicacies I enjoyed, and which I will miss so much is Nyangio (hope I got that right?) alias pork. I savoured lots of pork while in Makurdi, and that was what kept me going in the very humid weather there.

Back to business; let me tell us a little about Benue state and why it is a goldmine inhabited by paupers.

Benue state is located in North Central Nigeria and has a population of more than 4.2 million people according to a 2006 estimate (which is the only reliable estimate I can lay hands on). The state is predominantly occupied by the Tivs, Idomas and Igedes, although there are other ethnic minorities and settler such as the Hausas, Igbos, Yorubas and others.

According to history many of the ethnic groups that are indigenous of the state were associated with the rise and fall of the Kwararafa kingdom which was actually a confederacy of many ethnic groups that co-existed and co-opted in a number of ways to lay the foundation of the present day Benue and neighbouring states like Plateau, Taraba and Cross River. The Kwararafa kingdom lasted till the 17^th Century when it collapsed after suffering severe military attacks from the emerging Borno Empire.

The Tiv who constitute a large chunk of the indigenous population of Benue state is a semi-Bantu stock from the Katanga region of Congo-Zaire in Central Africa. According to history, between the year 1750 and 1800, the Tivs had migrated to Seven Hills in the West Cameroun when all the communities in the Apa region of the Kwararafa were in a state of turmoil. Hence, it was easy for the arriving Tivs to fight their way into the land until they reached the banks of the River Benue and Katsina-Ala, thus forcing the Idomas and other ethnic group along that axis to move further westwards. By 1800, all the people in the area to be known later as Benue state had arrived in the area and had learnt to cohabit with one another.

Benue state which was created in 1976 shares boundary with Nasarawa state to the North; Cross River, Enugu and Ebonyi states to the south; Taraba and the Republic of Cameroun to the East, and Kogi state to the West. Benue has 23 Local Government Areas, and its capital is located in Makurdi which is the biggest metropolis in the state and where the seat of political power is based. Other notable urban areas in the state are Gboko and Otukpo which are the ancestral home of the two major tribes in the state- Tiv and Idoma respectively.

Benue state is a rich agricultural region full of rivers, and just as has been mentioned earlier in the introductory part, it is popularly known as the Food basket of Nigeria. The state earned this slogan because of its rich and diverse agricultural productivity which include, but not limited to yam, rice, flax, beniseed cassava, potatoes, maize, soya beans, sorghum, millet and cocoyam.

Benue state accounts for over 70 percent of Nigeria’s soya beans production thereby making Nigeria the largest producer of soya beans in West Africa. That aside, at present, the state is the largest producer of orange and other citrus fruits in Nigeria. Not just are they the largest producer of orange, but the best species you can find anywhere in the world are found therein. The best species of fruits such as pineapple and mango are found in Benue state in abundance. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Nigeria produces about 3.4 million metric tons of citrus fruits annually making it the 9^th largest producer in the world, and the largest producer in Africa. It is estimated that Benue state produces more than 85% percent of the citrus fruits in Nigeria which can attract more than 2.5 Million US dollars (About N900 Million) to the state annually.

Also, according to the FAO, Nigeria is by far the world’s largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70 to 76 percent of world production. Nigeria currently produces more than 40 million metric tonnes which is valued at more than 6 billion US dollars. Although yam is grown in relatively large quantity in other parts of Nigeria, the area where it is grown most is in Benue state.  In Benue, especially among the Tivs, the size of the yam farm or the tonnage of yam produced becomes the social status of that farmer. Hence, it is in place to say that Benue state is the largest producer of yam in the world. 

Benue state is also one of the states in Nigeria that produces cassava in bounty. Benue state produces more than 30 percent of the 48 million tonnes of cassava produced in Nigeria annually, which is almost 19 percent of global production. In terms of fish and other aquatic resources, the state is also a front liner as it harvests fish in abundance owing to the availability of rivers, ponds and other water sources. 

The above indices are just a tip of the iceberg. The state has some many cash crops which it produces in abundance such as Bambara nuts, sesame, rice, sorghum, maize, guinea corn, oil palm, cashew, kolanuts, but for want of time and space, I have decided to leave them out and mention them only peripherally. In terms of agriculture, Benue state is apparently the richest state in the entirety of Africa. 

Despite all these abundance in food produce, the people of the state live in abject poverty. According to the United Nation’s Global Dimensional Poverty Index (GDPI) published in 2015, Benue was ranked the 8^th poorest state in Nigeria. A recent indices show that the overall incidence of poverty in the state is 77 percent, but in rural areas which are home of more than half of the state’s population, 88 percent of people are poor, while 67 percent are extremely poor. The state which is famous for food production is becoming increasingly inhabited by people who wallow in poverty. It is paradoxical that in a state which is the highest producer of yam in the world, poverty is absolute, severe, widespread, and multi-dimensional; and it is expected to increase in the next few years except urgent measures are taken to upturn this paradox.

To turn this ugly situation around, the worsening security problem which has displaced farmers should be tackled immediately. Again, government should provide financial support to farmers, while also providing them with farm inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and so on. The primitive method of farming should be faced out by providing farmers with machineries to mechanize farming activities.

Most importantly, it is estimated that 90 per cent of the agricultural produce in Benue are lost due to lack of storage and processing facilities. The Federal and State governments should intervene to stop this economic sabotage by providing modern storage facilities as well as encouraging companies to set up processing plants to mop up these produce which are wasted year in, year out. The Federal and State Ministries of Agriculture need to be rejigged to provide the level playing ground where these produce are channeled appropriately and marketed optimally. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) needs to wake up from its slumber and do the needful to export these excesses. And by so doing, the Benue populace will be empowered.

It is unfortunate that Benue state government depends almost solely on monies that accrue to it from the Federation Account monthly while it can make a fortune through giving value to the produce which are in abundance. It is a shame that the government owes civil servants backlogs of salaries and wages when it can make huge revenues from agriculture. Benue people deserve better because their land is naturally endowed.

Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi writes from Jos, Plateau state.