The Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, is advocating total reform and overhauling of the nation’s prisons in order to ensure efficient running of the system.
The governor made the call while receiving members of the House of Representatives Committee on Army who were in the state on oversight functions.
He explained that most of the prisons across the country were built several years ago to cater for smaller percentage of the population as at the time of construction.
“The current prison situation, not only in Ilorin, but all over the country, requires to be strongly reviewed because if corrective institutions that were built over 70, 80 years ago, with a population of probably about 30, 40 million, are still being used today to service correction of a population of close to about 200 million; there is no way we can get the best out of it.
“It is very clear, the time has come, stakeholders must necessarily all come together and create a synergized approach of input support to create the desired level of corrective institutions that would ultimately begin to correct people and get them properly reabsorbed into the society”.
He said if the situation is allowed to go beyond the current level, “those who go through such institutions would come out worse off”.
