Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has lamented the state of Nigerian prisons.
He therefore stressed the need “to decolonise the prisons” which he said were “a draconian colonial system that has not been helpful to Nigeria.”
Osinbajo, represented by the Aso Rock Chaplain, Seyi Joseph, said this in Abuja during the National Prison Ministry Conference and the Investiture of Patrons of Nigeria Prison Fellowship, with the theme, “Rebuilding loves and repairing the harms of crimes.”
Osinbajo noted that government’s efforts must go beyond apprehending and punishing offenders, adding that the efforts must also ensure appropriate reformation to make prisoners better persons when they are released.
He said the prisons “has no process of making productivity out of the prisoners, or of creating opportunity for reforming them.
“The essence of government policy and effort towards ensuring that prisoners are incarcerated has a lot of roles and a lot of things to show to the public because the public expect government to catch the offenders and punish the offenders.
“But we all know it should go beyond that, by ensuring that there is a reformative process while they are in prison. Even though we are yet to attain that, efforts like that of the prison fellowship is complementing the effort of the government.”
He commended the prison fellowship for complementing the efforts of the government in reforming the lives of the prisoners, thereby creating a better society.
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