The Executive Director, Centre for Legal Support and Inmates Rehabilitation (CELSIR), Joke Aladesanmi, has called for the review of the 2025 budget to capture the rehabilitation and reintegration of incarcerated persons in correctional facilities.
In a letter copied to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior; Chairman, House Committee on Reformatory Institutions; federal ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning as well as Controller-General, Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), Aladesanmi observed that N183.6 billion was earmarked to be allocated to the NCS, but the provision for the reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of incarcerated persons was not captured in the budget.
Citing Section 14 of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019, she noted that the correctional service shall provide opportunities for education training, vocational training, as well as training in modern farming techniques and animal husbandry for inmates.
Describing rehabilitation and empowerment of incarcerated people as the bedrock of the correctional system, she also made reference to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) research finding that in-prison rehabilitation is the most cost-effective way of preventing re-offending.
“In-prison empowerment initiatives like livelihood skills training, education, and psychological counselling are also pillars of successful reintegration into society,” she added.
To this end, Aladesanmi insisted that corrections cannot be achieved without adequate structures to ensure the empowerment of people experiencing incarceration.
Calling for a comprehensive review of the 2025 budget to sufficiently cater to the empowerment of incarcerated individuals, she made the following recommendations: Sufficient funds earmarked for in-prison empowerment and rehabilitation; delineate clear rehabilitation initiatives; education, mental health support and counselling; vocational and skill acquisition.
Other recommendations include: Allocating resources for reintegration; increasing financial focus for juvenile rehabilitation and increasing monitoring and evaluation.
