Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Senator Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II on Tuesday expressed delight at the rate of reforms being carried out by the management of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), describing them as commendable and better way of reducing crimes in the society.
This was as the monarch welcomed the new Commissioner of Police, Compol Moses Adebowale Williams to the state with a pledge to do all within his power to assist him to succeed, recalling that he had enjoyed robust relationship with the successive police boss in the state.
Oba Balogun spoke at his Alarere residence while reacting to the reports made by the newly posted Assistant Comptroller of Ibadan Command of Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Samuel Ayodele Olusola, who led other management staff of the Command on courtesy visit to the monarch.
In the statement credited to Olubadan by his Media Aide, Oladele Ogunsola, Oba Balogun said what’s going on in the Command and by extension at the national level “is reformation of Nigerians in a way and should be encouraged. When people who are convicted are given human treatment at the Correctional Centres and truly become changed persons, we are working towards a better society”.
The NCS boss, Olusola had told Kabiyesi the various efforts being made to change the punitive orientation of the former prison system to correctional one in order to make ex-convict suitable for integration back into the society. He disclosed that the Command had produced four sets of National Education Council (NECO) examinations candidates, adding “the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Open University (NOUN) are set to come to the Command.
“Among our inmates is a P.hD holder. Aside the academic exposure, we also organize training for our inmates in various trades towards making them useful citizens when they come out of our centre. For instance, our inmates just received training on paint making and what they produced was used to paint the centre. So, when they are released, they can go into paint making, painting or selling of paint materials”, he added.
Olusola also made it known that the NCS does things that can appeal to the inmates sense of reasoning such as allowing visitation and interaction with them by the elders, Churches and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and even, the manners of approach by the officials have changed from the harsh and negative tones to warmth and encouraging approach, noting that all these have been proving effective in remoulding and reshaping the convicts.
The Oyo NCS boss hinted of the challenges confronting the Command, principal among which is lack of portable water and used the occasion to solicit for the intervention of the monarch and other critical stakeholders in the society, stressing that inability of the inmates to have access to water for usage as expected of decent human beings could erode their good works.
The new Oyo CP, who also led his top echelon of the Command to the Olubadan said the visit was to seek Kabiyesi’s blessings in the onerous task of giving the state protection. He enjoined Oba Balogun to rally his Council members, Mogajis and Baales for cooperation with the Command towards giving maximum policing to Ibadanland and by extension the entire state, adding, “the job of securing the society is a collective task and there is nothing with can do on our own without the cooperation of our fathers and other stakeholders”.
Adewumi Faniran
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