Mujeeb Akindoyin
The Nigerian Correctional Service, Ogun State Command, has called for stronger partnerships with institutions, private organisations and other stakeholders to expand educational and vocational opportunities for inmates and prepare them for productive lives after incarceration.
The Controller of Corrections in the state, Kamarudeen Abioye, made the call on Friday while speaking at the graduation of 28 inmates of the Old Abeokuta Custodial Centre, Ibara, Abeokuta, who completed a basic computer skills training programme.
Abioye said skills acquisition and education remained critical components of the Service’s mandate to reform and rehabilitate inmates, urging more organisations to support initiatives that would equip them with skills needed to reintegrate into society.
The Controller commended the facilitators and sponsors of the training for investing in the inmates and providing them with an opportunity to acquire knowledge that could become useful after their release.
He said, “This initiative has been one of the methods to reform the inmates into better citizens, as they have been sent here for reformation.”
Abioye urged more institutions and organisations to partner with the NCoS to provide educational, vocational and other empowerment programmes capable of giving inmates a renewed sense of purpose.
He said such interventions would complement the efforts of the Correctional Service in ensuring that inmates did not merely serve their sentences but also acquired skills that could support their reintegration into the wider society.
The Welfare Director of the NCoS, Ogun State Command, ASC Abdulhakeem Awesu, explained that the educational programmes provided for inmates were broadly divided into three areas—academic, vocational and religious education.
Awesu said the programmes were designed to address different aspects of the inmates’ development while in custody.
“We have a mandate for educational programmes in three folds. In this area, we have the three folds. We have the academic, we have the vocational, and we have the religious educational programme,” he said.
The centre also received a projector and other gadgets to improve practical learning and make subsequent computer training sessions more effective.
The Officer in Charge of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Ibara, Deputy Controller of Corrections Ojo Adewale, said rehabilitation remained one of the core responsibilities of the Correctional Service.
Adewale said the Service was committed to ensuring that inmates were reformed, rehabilitated and corrected before returning to the society.
He, however, appealed to members of the public to stop stigmatising former inmates, saying social rejection could undermine the rehabilitation efforts of the Correctional Service.
According to him, inmates should be given opportunities to rebuild their lives and contribute positively to society after serving their sentences.
“Our responsibilities are to ensure that these people are reformed, they are rehabilitated, and they are corrected. We always campaign against the stigmatisation of inmates in the custodial centre because nobody is above mistakes,” Adewale said.
He urged members of the public and prospective employers to judge former inmates by their present conduct and abilities rather than permanently defining them by their past mistakes.
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