By Victor Akinkuolie, Ekiti
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A serving Corps Member in Ekiti State, Anuoluwa Balogun, has empowered ex-convicts in the state with tools in various skills, as her Personal Community Development Service, CDS, project.
Balogun, whose passion was borne out of the numerous psychological challenges ex-convicts faced when released from prison, such as stigmatisation, discrimination, isolation, and instability, said she embarked on the project to make an impact in her immediate environment.
The ex-convicts were presented with the tools at a one-day sensitisation programme tagged “Sensitisation of the Public Against Stigmatisation of the Ex-Convicts,” in Ado-Ekiti.
In her address at the event, Balogun said that the project is to rehabilitate, reform and reintegrate the ex-convicts, while urging the Federal Government and other relevant stakeholders to map out programmes towards their proper reintegration into the society.
Balogun added that during her pre-release counselling sessions with the ex-convicts, she discovered that the various offenses they committed were as a result of poverty, improper upbringing, etc.
She said: “This project is set to rehabilate, reform, and reintegrate a sizeable number of ex-convicts in Ekiti State. It is a smaller version of the big institution I have in mind, which the Federal Government and the State Government should take up, being also ably supported by individuals in the society.
On her part, the NYSC Ekiti State Coordinator, Mary Nenna Chikezie, lauded the efforts of Balogun noting that it is in tandem with the reasons behind the formation of the scheme.
Chikezie enjoined the teeming public to assist corps members who are embarking on their personal CDS projects while urging them to desist from stigmitising ex-convicts.
Chikezie said: “One of the virtues is the empathy, we encourage them to wear the shoes of the other person and know how it pinches and that is exactly what Balogun has done, translating the theories in camp into action.
The event which was in partnership with the National Orientation Agency, NOA, Ekiti State Directorate, had paper presentations on the theme: “The Prevention of Recividism and Social Reintegration of Ex-convicts.”