By Edwin Philip
The Minster of Interior Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has said that no government in the history of Nigeria has effectively looked into the welfare of Paramilitary Officers in the country like the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
He said Tinubu has implemented fifty two thousand promotions to paramilitary officers within 18 months, having inherited years of promotion backlogs.
The Minister made this known at At the second Public Hearing of the Independent Investigative Panel on Alleged Corruption and Other Violations Against the Nigerian Correctional Service taking place at the Abuja Continental Hotel, FCT, Abuja.
Dr Tunji -Ojo said that the circular for 2025 promotions examination slated for this March has already been released.
“Two weeks ago, the federal executive council approved the National Paramilitary Academy, where correctional officers, immigration will be trained,because for me, there is failure of knowledge, it criminal or an act of wickedness for you to demand from a man what he does not have” he said.
“In terms of capacity building we are doing more, because it is through your capacity that you can transfer knowledge to this inmate, give this inmate respect, that a man loses his freedom does not means that he should loose his dignity as a human being, it our responsibility to protect the least in our society” he added.
Emphasising on the renewed hope agenda of the current administration, the minister said the public hearing is to retool, not just investigate but to embark on a journey of rediscovery of ethos and foudametals of humanity, sense of responsibilities and responses which should characterized the correctional services and personnels, stating that renewed hope can only work with a renewed system.
The interior Minister warns that the current government will not tolerate the dehumanisation of inmates, as the era where people who go into correctional centres are incarcerated and condemned should be gone.
“This is 2025, this is not 1825, treat people with respect irrespective of who they are, that a man is in a correction centre does not make him less a human, beyond infrastructural reforms, beyond Strategic reforms, a lot need to happen within the context of our correctional officers”.he said.
He charged the investigative committee to work towards ensuring that Correctional officers understands that their duties is to be an agent of restoration, reformation and corrections, never to be an agent of condemnation , adding that when condemnation takes the place of corrections, it means that the system has failed.
He however mandated the chairperson to work towards eliminating corruptions in the system; “You need to work on that, for there to be corruption, bribery, one must offer, one must collect, so why we are talking about people that are giving let’s also talk about people who are collecting, of course the correctional centers is a restricted space, it is only those in uniform that will collect, it has to be zero tolerance and you have to work on that” he said.
Addressing the controller General of Corrections, the minister said that the officers must be psychological sound to be able to correct the inmates, adding that the improved welfare of officers by the current government was done to build their psychology positively for effective service delivery.
Speaking on the issue of awaiting trial, the Minister said a scenerio where awaiting trial makes 65 percent of those in correctional centres, shows that the key to decongestion is to treat the issue of awaiting trial, challenging stakeholders to work towards non custodial measures, as he does not want to set up another investigative panel to discuss the issue again.
According to him, members of the current investigative committee where carefully selected, as they are people with experience, proven integrity, who are not only working on knowing the problems but solutions, not just solutions but timelines for implementations.
Speaking unbehalf of her committee members, the chairperson of the investigative panel, Dr. Magdalene Ajana, who is also the Permanent Secretary ministry of interior, said the panel was established due to growing concerns around alleged corruption, human right violations and systemic irregularities within the Nigerian correctional system.
“our mandate is clear to conduct an independent, fair and thorough enquire into the allegations and to make enquiry into the allegations that will ensure accountability, uphold human dignity within the correctional service within Nigeria” she said.
She appreciated the minister of interior for his commitment to justice, transparency and reforms within the Nigerian correctional service, while thanking him for personally attending the public hearing.
She however, urge all stakeholders to approach the process with openness, courage and a shared commitment to the truth, as findings and recommendations from the enquiry shall serve as a foundation for meaningful reforms that will be sustainable and ensuring that the nation’s correctional institutions functions with integrity , professional and respect for human dignity.
Expressing his readiness and that of the Correctional service to abide by the recommendations of panel, the acting Controller General of Corrections , Sylvester Nwakuche, said by the time the committee work is over, they will align with the recommendations, as they are doing their best for the inmates, who are still integral part of the country.
On the welfare of correctional officers, the Controller General thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as they have never had it this good in the areas of inmate welfare, Increasing their feeding and staff welfare among others, promising that in no distance time, Nigerians will see a Correctional service that is improved inline with international best practices.
On his part, the president of Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) Afam Osigwe, SAN, decried the number of persons who are awaiting trial, worried that a number of this persons are awarded by magistrate without any charge been file against them, without any order been made for them to be brought back for review, as this puts pressure on the number of persons who languish in detention facilities.
He also advocated the utilisation of non custodial measures from the courts, like the imposition of fines, community services, supervised release and other measures contained in the correctional services act, will enhance the administrative of criminal justice system and ensure that people are not at all times send to prison where they will come out worst than what they were when they went in there.
“Am glad that this is investigative panel is not only looking at the cases of corruption, but into issues around this, because we must work with the judiciary to ensure that this thing do not continue to happen, we can’t afford to have a figure of 53% or 75 % being persons awaiting trial, this figures are not good for us” he said.
On the fear that the recommendations of the panel of enquiry will be swept under carpet,, he called for optimism, saying that the keynote address of the Minister of interior suggest that he wants the recommendations to be implemented.
At the gathering, were men and officers of the Nigerian correctional service, and other stakeholders including participants from the National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Bar Association, International IDEA, UNICEF and the Press.