Government, The Prisons And Society
By Reuben Abati

The decision of the Federal Executive Council to commit more resources with effect from January 1, 2008 to the maintenance and upgrading of the country's prisons and the welfare of prisoners as part of a prison reform package is in order, but the measures that have so far been outlined by the Federal Government do not address the enormity of the problem. The Federal Executive Council decided to increase the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from N150 to N200. This is still less than two dollars a day.

In addition, government is also planning to upgrade the facilities in the prisons, ensure regular supply of potable water and cooking gas, while the office of the Attorney General of the Federation will arrange for lawyers to assist the inmates so that "all will have access to fair hearing". This is not the first time that the Federal Government would promise to do something about the welfare of prisoners, but always, the promises are never translated into concrete action. The truth is that the nation's prisons are the equivalent of hell. The situation is so bad that President Umaru Yar'Adua needs to declare a state of emergency in the nation's prisons.

In the past three years alone, there have been reports of jailbreak or riots in the nation's prisons arising from prisoners' dissatisfaction with their welfare. The most recent example in this regard is the riot at the Agodi prisons in Ibadan where the inmates went on rampage seizing every possible weapon in sight as they turned their anger on the warders. One of their colleagues had reportedly died due to poor medical attention. In other prisons, the cause of riot had been poor feeding, and the cruelty of the state. The Federal Government wants to increase the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from N150 to N200. This is ridiculous. What can N200 buy in today's Nigeria? A loaf of bread is about N120.

The Federal Government also wants to upgrade the facilities by supplying water and cooking gas. The only kind of upgrading that the prisons require is a complete rebuilding of the infrastructure. Nigeria cannot boast of a modern prison. Most of our prisons were built by the colonial authorities and they have not seen any form of expansion or rebuilding since then. With the exponential increase in national population, the collapse of the economy, the loss of values, and a sharp rise in crime, the prisons have received more inmates and they have become congested. An average prison that is built to accommodate 100 persons now holds more than 500 with the inmates cramped into small spaces like animals.

In many countries of the world, animals are even treated better. In Nigerian prisons, there are no toilet facilities, no proper beds, ventilation is poor, and the warders and security men in charge of the prisons are natural sadists. I will recommend that bulldozers be sent to our prisons one after the other, and that the structures be pulled down and rebuilt completely: If we do not know what a proper prison should look like, we can copy models from more advanced countries, or simply follow common sense and transform our prisons into environments where failed citizens can be reformed, where even the condemned can enjoy the pleasure of being human before facing the hangman. Our prisons fail the human rights test. They have become mental wards, populated by persons who are victims of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression induced by inhuman conditions, as well as the negligence, incompetence and irresponsibility of the state.

Poor funding has always been a major issue in prison administration. Even the warders complain. At the last Federal Executive Council, government considered the option of involving the states in prison administration. This is a good idea. Indeed, the Constitution should be reviewed to make prison service a concurrent function. The over-centralisation of prisons administration has resulted in a uniformity of outlook and style, and gross inefficiency. The Ministry of the Interior (formerly Internal Affairs) has proved incapable of managing the nation's prisons. The Federal Government can provide broad policy guidelines, but each state should be allowed to run its own prisons.

Running a prison ought not to result in competition over power and space; it is not the same thing as creating a state police (!), and it is not a political instrument since very few politicians would like to refer to the prison as their constituency, but simply a question of human rights and justice. In addition, the prison levels should be more properly defined. The level of security and treatment should be determined by the severity of felony: a minimum prison should be different from a medium prison and both form a maximum prison. In Nigeria, every prison is currently a maximum prison, including the police cell.

But the problem with our prisons is really jurisprudential, with a direct and empirical effect on the justice administration system. The justice system in Nigeria is accusatorial, abusive, punitive and sadistic. Pray never to have anything to do with the justice system in Nigeria. The law says that a man is adjudged innocent until proven guilty, but the opposite is more the case. From the police station to the courts to the prisons, the accused person is exposed to the most unthinkable form of humiliation. It is as if every person in the chain of justice is a graduate of the school of sadism.

The wickedness of the Nigeria police needs not be described afresh: it is already a legend. Police cells are spilling over with accused persons who are being kept against their will and who may not be charged to court, unless they are willing to bribe the Divisional Police Officer and his men. Bail is said to be free at the police station, but the police insist on payment; they transform themselves into a court of law. Many Nigerians would rather pay the ransom than face the humiliation. Even court bail is difficult to process: the bureaucracy is horrendous, and in a county where transportation is difficult and documentation is poor, satisfying court bail conditions could take days.

In the meantime, the accused person is remanded in prison custody where after a few days of exposure to raw inhumanity, he or she would be a changed person for life. The worst victims are the persons who are called "awaiting trial persons". There are 40, 000 inmates in Nigerian prisons, we are told that about eighty per cent of them are ATMs. This is not the kind of statistics that government should be quoting. It is an indictment of the justice system. Justice delayed, it is said, is justice denied. Justice is forever delayed in Nigeria. The courts are over-burdened; the judges are over-worked; prosecutors and investigators are either incompetent or they are handicapped.

The United States has the largest population of convicted persons in the world: about seven million with about 2.2 million behind bars. China is second with a population of 1.5 million prison inmates. Both countries have been strongly criticized for not doing enough for their prisoners, but whatever excesses may exist in the United States and China are incomparable to the Nigerian system. In Nigeria, prisoner-on-prisoner violence, state-on-prisoner violence, rape of female inmates, official brutality and other forms of abuses are commonplace.

The curious operative philosophy is that it is the man who has a case to answer who is at fault. And everybody from the police man to the secretary in the Court Registrar's office to the prison warder treats you as if you are sub-human; they place you at their mercy. In the justice chain in Nigeria, there is no such thing as natural justice: no conception of the need to do "unto others as you would wish them to do unto you." This lack of humanity is what is responsible for the criminal state of our prisons: it is the reason why members of the Federal Executive Council whose members feed their own children with more than N120 per meal would decide that N200 per day is enough to feed prison inmates many of whom have not even been found guilty of any wrongdoing. It is also the reason why pensioners would not be paid their entitlements.

In other parts of the world, the prison is a correctional facility. The philosophy is that human beings can be reformed and made to adapt to new behaviour. Jurisprudentially, wrong-doers are given a chance to redeem themselves. This is why in the United States, they have such options as parole, suspended sentences and hours of community work. Many of the states have also abandoned the death penalty. In stricter juristic systems, the prison system is no less reformatory. Here in Nigeria, the only persons who can go to prison and still have a life thereafter are rich and influential people. In fact, this class of Nigerians ends up in prison only for political reasons, in other circumstances; they are placed above the law by the distortions within the justice system.

Ours is a country of big men, and to be a big man means having the ability to buy anything including justice. In our prisons for example, there is no equality among the inmates. A rich inmate who is temporarily incarcerated can buy up the entire prison: from superintendent to fellow inmates. The Nigerian prison operates like a hotel. If you have the means, you can take a Presidential Suite, or a double bed accommodation, but if you are unlucky and poor, you get thrown into the midst of hardened criminals, those ones who have been forsaken by government and society and who have sworn to an oath of evil, with a mandate to make life impossible for society. Imprisonment is a stigma anywhere in the world, but here it is only the poor ex-convict that is stigmatized. Rich ex-convicts get state pardon and they can move on with their lives as if nothing happened.

Prison reform must be targeted at the jurisprudential question. This is the challenge for the Yar'Adua administration. Anyone who has a contact with the justice system must be treated with dignity and respect. Our prisons must become correctional facilities not hellish holes. The prisons that were built by the colonial authorities which we are still using, with may be one or two exceptions, were informed by both colonial and racist considerations and meant for a smaller population. So much has changed in Nigeria since 1960, but the soldiers who seized power for so long, found no cause to change the colonial orientation of our prisons since there was not much ideological difference between the military and the colonial government.

Prison reform cannot be done in isolation, it must be part of a comprehensive justice administration reform including the police and the courts system. Training and re-training for the police, warders, prosecutors, court staff and an all-out war against corruption within the justice administration system would be most essential. The emphasis of the prison system should be correction and rehabilitation. President Umaru Yar'Adua has not had the benefit of a night in prison on his resume, but he would perhaps begin to appreciate the seriousness of the dilemma if only he would take a trip round the nation's prisons. The biggest prison of course is the Nigerian society itself, where man and nature are undergoing excruciating and inhuman punishment. For President Yar'Adua, "seeing", as they say, "is believing." Even if some people saw the prisons and experienced what it means to be a Nigerian prisoner and still did nothing, we hope that President Yar'Adua will feel compelled to make a difference.

Borno, Not Gombe

My attention has been drawn to a mix-up in "Goje's Ramadan Gifts in Gombe" (Crossroads, Sun., October 7). The controversy over the distribution of Ramadan gifts which formed the basis of the commentary on the (ab)use of public funds for the promotion of religion occurred in Borno state, not Gombe. The mix-up is regretted

Robot  # 1 | 14.10.2007 04:56

Government, The Prisons And Society ...Read the full article.

Auspicious  # 2 | 14.10.2007 10:36

The Federal Government wants to increase the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from N150 to N200. This is ridiculous. What can N200 buy in today's Nigeria? A loaf of bread is about N120. It makes you wonder how supposedly well-read people (a.k.a. leaders of thought) sit down on plushy chairs, in air-conditioned rooms, sipping on 'ice-water' from sparkling glasses - all that good comfort and more - to deliberate on important issues of state (as upgrading or reforming our prison system) and still end up coming up with the most stupid policies imaginable. The only kind of question one can ask these people at this point is: What is wrong with these people? Are they crazy or what? Auspicious.

Dapxin  # 3 | 14.10.2007 10:49

This is a beautiful essay. Clear. Concise and thorough. I wish I could know if there was at least one member in the damned Federal Illegitimate Council who was sensible enough to raise the stupidity of a N200/day meal policy. Just so I could give the entire f00ls the benefit of the doubt. But, how can I wonder ? The fact that they can make such a nauseating policy public just goes to show the level of contempt they hold us with. And it is a top down thing, I have been privy to the policy making process at the state level in Ondo state before and the kind of suggestions you listen to makes your head feel like falling off. Oga Abati was on spot in his assessment that namespace Nigeria is frankly one wild wide prisonyard.... someday, there'd be the mother of all prison breaks.

Dapxin  # 4 | 14.10.2007 10:50

=Auspicious;209178024>It makes you wonder how supposedly well-read people (a.k.a. leaders of thought) sit down on plushy chairs, in air-conditioned rooms, sipping on 'ice-water' from sparkling glasses - all that good comfort and more - to deliberate on important issues of state (as upgrading or reforming our prison system) and still end up coming up with the most stupid policies imaginable. The only kind of question one can ask these people at this point is: What is wrong with these people? Are they crazy or what? Auspicious. You wish !

I Love Nigeria  # 5 | 14.10.2007 10:51

I am delighted at the fact that someone of Dr. Abati's stature has brought his search light to bear on this national shame! http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/paul-adujie/awaiting-trial-endlessly-in-nigeria-a-national-s.html I implore Dr. Abati to focus on this issue with sustained efforts.... such as follow-up articles... and perhaps talking to his journalist colleagues to join this worthy cause of Nigerian citizens who are under privileged... Nigeria is so class-conscious and elitist... so much so, that issues affecting those in the sub-strata of our society are ignored routinely... issues that are not considered sexy or lucrative. We hope that the current government efforts (paltry as it is) is not a mere lip service.

naijafulani  # 6 | 14.10.2007 11:44

Nigeria is so class-conscious and elitist... so much so, that issues affecting those in the sub-strata of our society are ignored routinely... issues that are not considered sexy or lucrative The British infected us with this sickness, if I may call it so. It is a pollution that would take time to disinfect.

Auspicious  # 7 | 14.10.2007 11:46

=I Love Nigeria;209178029>Nigeria is so class-conscious and elitist... so much so, that issues affecting those in the sub-strata of our society are ignored routinely... issues that are not considered sexy or lucrative... Gbam, Paul! I say, GBAM! You just hit that nail on the head so hard, it didn't need to be hammered-in a second time. The class-conscious and elitist mentality is so bad..so bad..it is almost criminal! How for God's sake, can these people be so conscienceless to sit down and say, yeah, let us improve our prisons by adding N50 to their N150-day dietary budget, where the speaker of the national assembly budgets over half a billion bucks on the renovation of her official residence? Even the meeting where the decision was made will cost enough to feed the inmates for 6 months! Some kain times ehn, some of these people almost make one wish for the return of that era (yeah, like one ever existed!) where people are simply shot for being stupid. It truly is the elitist mentality. That is the bane of all our problems. Everybody wants to be big and treats the person below him with criminal contempt. Oga yells at Houseboy. Houseboy yells at Driver. Driver yells at Gateman. Gateman yells at Begger. And the vicious cycle of criminal elitism continues.. Abeg, somebody tell me: when is Jesus coming again? *Sigh!* Auspicious.

Auspicious  # 8 | 14.10.2007 11:50

Ref. ILN's Comment: Nigeria is so class-conscious and elitist... so much so, that issues affecting those in the sub-strata of our society are ignored routinely... issues that are not considered sexy or lucrative =naijafulani;209178039>The British infected us with this sickness, if I may call it so. Well, thank goodness even they have mostly healed themselves of such 'sickness' because as of today, they are far more ahead of us in initiating welfare policies that make life easier for the Average Joe. Very unlike the case in Nigeria. Auspicious.

Adeola Aderounmu  # 9 | 14.10.2007 15:03

The Federal Executive Council decided to increase the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from N150 to N200. This is still less than two dollars a day. Then the government can boast that even prisoners are not living on less than 1 dollar a day! Them get idea how to fool people away from reality. The truth is that the nation's prisons are the equivalent of hell. The last image that I have 10 months ago about Nigeria itself is hell. The Federal Government wants to increase the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from N150 to N200. This is ridiculous. What can N200 buy in today's Nigeria? A loaf of bread is about N120 This is called DUE PROCESS, Prisoners (guilty or innocent) must suffer! The wickedness of the Nigeria police needs not be described afresh: it is already a legend. Police cells are spilling over with accused persons who are being kept against their will and who may not be charged to court, unless they are willing to bribe the Divisional Police Officer and his men There was a time I lived in Moniya (Akinyele Local Govt) and I rented a room directly across the Police station. It was my service year. Anyone who knows this police station will understand how close it is to the house on the other side of the narrow road. I mean very very close. On several nights (around 12midnight), I did hear gunshots coming from the Police station. Then one day, I asked the landlord's son what that was all about. He told me that "don't you know that is how and when they get rid of armed robbers". He said, they are used to living with the sounds of the gun and that the robbers will be floating on water somewhere in Ibadan the next morning. I hated the Nigerian Police more from that day. Here in Nigeria, the only persons who can go to prison and still have a life thereafter are rich and influential people. In fact, this class of Nigerians ends up in prison only for political reasons, in other circumstances; they are placed above the law by the distortions within the justice system. Ours is a country of big men, and to be a big man means having the ability to buy anything including justice Listen to a musician called African China " Rich man wey steal millions go go free, Poor man wey still maggi, them go show him face for crime fighter" That is the RULE OF LAW in Nigeria. Ask Okiro and Aondoakaa, men wey sabi Rule of Law. Nonsense! The biggest prison of course is the Nigerian society itself, where man and nature are undergoing excruciating and inhuman punishment. Say No more! Nigeria is a jungle! An illegitimate government has nothing to offer. Our hope, surely, lies on something genuine, something authentic, and something not done with army arrangement (part 3 of Obasanjo's Thriller abi na Horror movie)

TsuliyanDodo  # 10 | 15.10.2007 03:35

Villagers! Villagers!! Villagers!!! I called you how many times? You what? It means more money for corrupt warders...Down the warden hierarchy, I can swear half of the N200 will be stolen before it gets to the prisoners. IF THIS PRISONERS HONESTLY GET N100/day SPENT ON THEIR MEALS, THEY'D FEED QUITE WELL AND BE HAPPY! If you see their food rations, you'll know that less than N20/meal is spent on each prisoner. Their tea? rat piss thick pass am! Stew? "red water". No meat at all, they'd be lucky to get a tiny, laughable piece of meat or fish in a week My cousin, a reverend father told me his parishioners resorted to cooking food for the prisoners each Sunday for Lunch, Because the bags of rice occassionally donated were carted to the homes of Prison warders...in fact, even taken as far as to the "State Controller". . N50 can still get you small, tasty meal of rice and/or beans, eba, amala with a small one small "kpomo". Believe me, I live in Nigeria. If prisoners get this, they'll feel like kings. But N200 per/day? does that include their medical care? May Sango punish these people the sat in this Federel "Execu-thief" council meeting.