By : Dr Ifediorah Orakwe Controller of Prisons ( Rtd ) Senior Partners AZBA Consults Abuja

PRACTICAL STEPS TOWARDS ACHIEVING AN EFFECTIVE GENDER-SENSITIVE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM IN NIGERIA By:Dr Ifediorah OrakweController of Prisons (Rtd)Senior Partners AZBA Consults Abuja Paper Presented at the Correctional Reform Conference Organised by the Catholic Prisoners’ Interest Organisation (CAPIO) at the Reiz Hotel Abuja 25th September, 2019

Introduction Brief expose on: The Criminal Justice System and Prisons/Corrections:

The Criminal Justice System in Nigeria I have in most of my writings tried to capture the essence of the Criminal Justice System along these lines: A peace time Army of the modern State engaged perpetually in the fight against agents of social destabilization who threaten the social cohesion or public peace through the violation of its laws. It is described as a peace time Army because its fight against agents of social destabilization continues round the clock, sometimes noticed but at other times not observed. But this war goes relentlessly on.

The Criminal Justice System of a country consists of its Police Force and other crime fighting Agencies… There are quite a number of them in Nigeria; The Nigeria Police leads the pack but there are others such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC; The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, The National Security and Civil Defence Corps; The Nigeria Customs Service; The Department of State Security, SSS, and a host of other crime fighting and prosecuting agencies in the country.

The Criminal Justice System also includes the Ministries of Justice both at the Federal and State levels. They are all involved in the vetting and prosecution of all cases falling within their areas of jurisdictions. Also numbered among the agencies of the Criminal Justice System are all the criminal courts of the land starting from that Area courts to Magistrate, to the High and Appeal to the Supreme courts. Every court in the country trying cases of any criminal nature are operating within the context of the Criminal Justice System.

In the United States of America, the CJS is even conceived of as including the Bar Association because the Bar is not only a vital part, it is a strategic partner in Criminal Justice delivery. I think it is safe to consider the Bar as a part of the CJS in Nigeria, making the Nigerian Bar Association a strategic part of the CJS. There is then the Prisons which is often referred to as the last Bust Stop in the system. It is the prisons all over the world that execute the sentences of the courts with respect to all criminal judgements including, in some cases, the sentence of death.

Corrections: One step above prisons • (Offender in focus) • Corrections could be defined as the systematic inquiry into the mindset of an offender, for the purpose of finding out the reasons for their antisocial behaviour and initiating and implementing programmes designed to return them to rectitude. • If this definition is taken side by side with the mandate of the Nigerian Prisons Service, it will be seen that the NPS is correction-oriented.

This correction orientation is informed by the realization that except for condemned convicts, every prisoner has a date that he or she will return to the society. • So in Corrections, the primary focus is on behaviour modification in the offender rather than on the subject of punishment. • Therefore it pays the society to ensure that the condition in which they return is better than the condition in which they went in through positive intervention in custody, making imprisonment punishment and not for punishment. • Corrections / Prisons is imperative in any society where the pursuit of interests leads to conflicts and contentions.

(c) Gender as a concept. Gender is Sex. Male and Female. Gender is not just about women. Gender,for our purpose, is about groups in society who are distinguished and carved out for special consideration. Gender, Sociologically , applies to those groups considered weak within the context of general social relations

Gender in Corrections: Going by our definition of Gender there are many persons and groups who may come under the term ‘weak’ in a man’s world Such groups therefore are deserving of special attention on the management of closed societies in Corrections

These are: Women, Children and Juveniles and The Youth. And this paper will try to focus on them in x-raying the position of the law and social expectation in terms of how they are treated in Corrections. In civilised societies these groups are treated separately in CJS matters.

Gender-Sensitive Correctional System imply Correctional Systems that recognise that the different gender categories have certain peculiar needs and characteristics that have to be factored into their stint in custody. A Criminal Justice System that pays detailed attention to the needs of these special categories in order to ensure that their rights are not violated on account of their Gender. Or that that their Gender does not leave them disadvantaged in the processes of answering to any criminal charges.

Women as a category. Prisons in Nigeria by their very makeup reflect the truism that it is indeed a Man’s World

Most of the prisons were constructed with men in mind. Very masculine! Women as a category were only considered when sections of the convicts prisons were carved off to contain the women Just that. Other things remained equal and constant

THE BANGKOK RULES These rules have helped to show the extent to which women are dehumanized when locked up in masculine prisons

Gender-sensitive Correctional System is one that ….. Will not debase or dehumanize the persons who pass through it Will take into consideration the basic physiological and social needs of the gender held therein Since Corrections focuses on eliciting positive behavioural change on the inmates. Every effort must be made to hold and retain the confidence and trust of the inmate.

Women Corrections In Nigeria, women are usually few in the prisons. That may explain why the structures do not provide for their needs But that is wrong. Very wrong. No matter their numbers, it is proper that their gender characteristics or attributes should be taken into account in setting up Correctional System for them

Apart from the general needs of Correctional Institutions, Gender-sensitive Correctional facilities should bear the following marks: Women are peculiar persons, with very peculiar physiological and psycho-social needs. When the systems do not factor these needs in their development, it most certainly dehumanises the women put their Women are usually mothers, wives and home managers. When one woman is imprisoned, close to ten or even 20 persons are imprisoned with her in the spirit They come to prison with more than just the offence on their minds. They worry about the house, children, food and other domestic needs. A Gender-sensitive Correctional System should have in place, a communication mechanism that helps to take care of such worries .

Gender-sensitive facilities must note and provide for the following: Women are given to monthly discomfort They are always in need of psychological reassurances. Women have peculiar medical needs Women are easily put-off or disorganised by dis order Women learn better under severe and peaceful atmosphere. Women and water are like strong bedfellows.

In order to create a Correctional System that is gender sensitive as far as women are concerned, the following must weigh highly in the minds of those charged with the responsibility: 1. Accommodation: For the women will be planned in such a way as to accommodate all that we adumbrated above. 2. There shall be regular supply of water 3. Provision for all round sanitation 4. Environmental Serenity 5. Training and Learning Facilities 6. Sports and Games

The first question any critic will ask at this point will be why should such expense be incurred for people who have broken the law? This is the common view in our clime. That is essentially what modern imprisonment and Corrections are all about

The society is held to be responsible for the creating the climate that gives rise to crimes. Besides when people who are ground down by life are shown compassion in custody, it facilitates and quickens penitence. Corrections focuses on the behaviour modification in the offender and not punishment. A society that adopts Corrections has moved up a bit.

Any society that practices Corrections must be considered to have moved up in its HDI in terms of how it treats its citizens, A society that places high premiums on the destiny of its citizens. No society that treats it citizens with grave contempt and disregard can embrace Corrections; it will be contradictory. In an ideal society where Corrections is truly practiced, those caught in the web of crime when taken into custody, are humanely treated and assessed to obtain the category of treatment they deserve.

This means that every Correctional center should be built and equipped like any other institution of learning to cater for his group. The aim is to change the penitent and make them well equipped to lead useful and fulfilled lives on discharge. Such Institutions do not have vacancies for Awaiting Trial Persons as we have today. Corrections assesses each person and treats them as convicted offenders only for the purpose of training and rehabilitation. That is why each Custodial Center must be built and equipped to enable all these complex processes take place. take place under the supervision of well trained staff.

The 2019 Correctional Act The passage of the New Correctional Act 2019 is commendable. But it must be stated from the beginning that it is anything but Correctional. The Act no doubt accommodated certain salient points and prayers made by prison officers over the years as hindrances to effective performance . This is the first time since independence that a law should be passed to govern the roles of prisons in national development.

The Decree 9 of 1972 which later became CAPP 366 LON 1990 and later CAPP 29 LON 2004 were merely terse excerpts from the 1916 Ordinances. Other additional circulars include the revised Prisons Regulations of 1955 , the Gobir Report 1968 on the administration of prisons overtime and the Welfare and Aftercare Reforms of 1976. Otherwise there had not been any strategic document or law that pertains to the administration of prisons since 1916. But this law is commendable because it has created an enabling environment for the prisons to resume the reform and rehabilitation of prisoners. As stated at the beginning the prisons in Nigeria have been focused on inmate reforms since 1937 after the Dolan years.

But this law has to face some immediate challenges. Namely; There is this burgeoning Awaiting Trial problem that has lasted almost 4 decades. It was not there when the prisons were reform—based. Now the congestion of ATPs has overtaken the capacity. The workshops and factories have gone moribund. Trained Tradesmen who were training the inmates have all retired. Funding of prison matters have always been perfunctory and subject to the whims and caprices of those in the positions to do so. ( 2 CGs before Ja’afaru could not pay for ration) For that reason, projects could not start and end within time frames. Prisons started in 1980 have either been abandoned, ongoing or partially completed almost 40 years on when we should be talking of new ones. Other segments of the Criminal Justice System are not only properly funded and expanding but the prison lacks recognition and keeps stagnating.

A society that cannot meet the immediate needs of prisons cannot afford Corrections. Corrections involves far more important attributes that go beyond name change. It involves changes in the basic structures of the Custodial Centers in order that the officers will manage the three categories of inmates at the same time. It involves massive capital outlays in much the same way as votes are set aside for education at all levels. It involves a substantial change in training, goal orientation and ideology of the operational staff. And as stated above, Corrections precludes Awaiting trial congestion. If you must transit to corrections, you must either have all inmates convicted or create remand prisons for untried persons.

In order therefore to achieve a Gender-based Correctional System in Nigeria, the general and specific principles enumerated above must be considered . And on a more practical level the following steps need be considered too; None recognition of Corrections as part of the CJS is a major hindrance. It must be followed by a Prison Policy. Funding of the sector must be a priority. Removal of the general view of prisons which affects social response. In concluding, I can only hope that the term Corrections will be taken for what it represents an not the typical penchant for naming it because others did. Like we did to; The Child Rights Act and The Juvenile laws.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

By : Dr Ifediorah Orakwe Controller of Prisons ( Rtd ) Senior Partners AZBA Consults Abuja