THE federal government has announced it will this year spend N22.4b on feeding inmates nationwide. This is coming on the heels of poor conditions that characterize correctional centers across the country.  It disclosed that it could no longer singlehandedly bear the burden of housing and feeding inmates and asked  states to henceforth, provide feeding and accommodation to inmates in their respective states.  Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this last Thursday.

NIGERIA currently has 244 correctional facilities in the country with an inmate population of 75,507. Of this figure, the total number of male inmates is 73,821 and 1,686 female inmates. Breakdown of the 75,507 inmates further shows that 52,436 are awaiting trial while 23,071 are convicted persons, and 3,322 have been condemned and on death row.Of the 244 correctional facilities, 82 of them are being overcrowded.

TO us at The Hope, N22b is  stagering given the conditions of the inmates’ welfare at the correctional centers ranging from accommodation, clothing, feeding and recreation centers. Tales from various correctional centers always depict poor condition of the centers as the inmates are not well fed as well as their welfare not adequately catered for. Thus, if N22b is being spent on feeding alone, what about other costs of running the centers? The figures would be staggering if revealed.

WE therefore support the move to involve state governments in running the  centers. With the amendment of the 1999 constitution which has now placed the issue of correctional services on the concurrent list, states are empowered to establish their own correctional services and facilities as it is being done in other countries where there are private owners of prisons. State governments and private investors would be able to key into this and have their own correctional centers where basic facilities will be available. As we speak, many inmates come out worse than they were before they were sentenced to jail. They often come out more hardened to commit crime and unleash terror on the society because of the system under which they spend their jail terms.

AS a mater of fact, the purpose of putting people behind bars is not only for punitive measure but more importantly to correct and rehabilitate them. As such, correctional centers should be turned to productive ventures. There is the need to change the focus of the correctional centers in Nigeria. Business can be established there to run the facilities where inmates can fend for themselves if adequately monitored. Hence, inmates should be able to make meaningful contributions to the society. Akin to this is the fact that inmates on death row continue to increase in number because state Governors who are constitutionally empowered to sign their death warrants have refused to do so. We therefore call on the Governors not to abdicate their responsibility in this regard, else, they should push for the conversion of death sentence to life imprisonment.

A staggering figure of 52,436 inmates awaiting trial out of the total 75,507 inmates shows that all is not well with our judicial system. Many of these ought not to have been in the correctional centers if they had been granted bail on liberal terms. The courts then have a duty to make bail more accessible to those awaiting trial as they constitute the majority of inmates. The chief judges of states should pay regular visits to correctional centers and ensure that those awaiting trial are attended to on time in terms of bail conditions to decongest the facilities.

ABOVE all, government should tackle unemployment which is a breeding ground for crime and criminality.  There is the need to find creative means of providing jobs for people in order to take many out of the streets thereby reducing the number of people in correctional centers. This is because, if more youths are gainfully employed, the energy they spent on committing crime would be channeled to productive ventures.