Prison Reforms Will Be Part of My 25 Executive Orders if Elected President, Says Imumolen
- Prison is an institution for the confinement of persons remanded in custody by a judicial authority following a conviction for a crime
- However, Professor Christopher Imumolen says entering a Nigerian prison is more or less a death sentence
- The 39-year-old presidential candidate says he will reform Nigeria's correctional centres so that they will be helpful to the society
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FCT, Abuja - Accord Party's presidential candidate, Professor Christopher Imumolen says extensive prison reforms will form a significant part of his 25 executive orders if he becomes Nigeria's president come 2023.
The country's youngest presidential candidate says wholesale reforms have become necessary in the prison sector because it no longer essentially serves the purpose of reforming characters and building responsible citizens.
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Professor Imumolen made the comment as a guest on Human Rights Radio breakfast show, 'Brekete Family Program', broadcast live in Abuja on Monday, December 26 and monitored by Legit.ng.
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He said prison reforms had become necessary in light of prisoners' dehumanising conditions.
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His words:
"I have had opportunities to see how our prisoners, both convicted and unconvicted, live in these correctional facilities. And to say the truth, they are inhuman conditions.
"In my work as a social entrepreneur, I have had cause to facilitate the release of over 200 prisoners. I can tell you that the conditions under which our prisoners live is not fit for human beings whether they have committed crimes for which they are serving sentences or not.
"Prisons are supposed to be places where the characters of deviants or criminals are remoulded and reintegrated back into society after they must have paid for their crimes, living in confinement, for a limited time.
"But the way our prisons are structured, they neither reform nor remould. Rather, they make prisoners worse than they were before entering the prisons.
"The country's case is so bad that when somebody who is not a criminal enters into prison either by default or otherwise, he comes out a full blown criminal after a short period.
"The prison is supposed to be a place that will take a person's comfort, restrict his freedom to do certain things in the time he does time, but it should absolutely not be a place where a person's life is taken.''
He lamented that people's lives are being wasted presently in Nigeria's prisons, saying:
"That is why my government will be declaring an emergency in that sector should I get the people's mandate to become Nigeria's president next year.
"Prisons are not meant to be too comfortable or else the rate of crime and criminal activities will rise exponentially.
''However, I am saying that prisons must be made to serve the purpose of changing the characters of criminals and making them better citizens by the time they complete their jail terms."
My first executive order will be to reform the civil service, says Imumolen
Professor Imumolen recently vowed that he will make wholesale reforms in Nigeria's civil service his topmost priority should he get the opportunity to become Nigeria's president in next year's general elections.
Imumolen stated that if elected, the civil service will be reformed and sanitised to make it more attuned to the demands of his proposed reformist government.
He further said the success or failure of any government depends on the civil service.
I have what it takes to succeed Buhari as Nigeria's president, says Imumolen
Similarly, Professor Imumolen has said he is confident that he has what it takes to become Nigeria's next president.
The country's youngest presidential candidate says he can rescue Nigeria from its current free fall into disgrace and return her to sustainable growth if he gets the people's mandate in next year's general elections.
The renowned scholar and entrepreneur stated that he could conveniently take over the reins of government from outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari next year because he is qualified but competent to do the job.
Source: Legit.ng
