Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria are rallying together to form a new coalition that will pursue tangible and sustainable reforms in the Prisons and Criminal Justice System in Nigeria. The coalition will set the stage for like-minded organizations to network and support each other’s work.
Theoretically, Nigeria should have the most advanced Criminal Justice System in Africa since 2015 when the Administration of Criminal Justice Act was assented to by Former President Goodluck Jonathan. In reality, Nigeria’s Criminal Justice System could easily pass as worse than in nations that have non-democratic systems of government.
While the Criminal Justice System in Nigeria is the most complex in the world, it is also the slowest. Cases could linger for decades while retaining more than seventy-five per cent of all persons in prison still awaiting trial. The Prisons in Nigeria have been described as ‘Hell on Earth’. Despite government commitments expressed by various government administrations, significant changes are tokenistic and often lack any real impact. It is against this background that the Coalition for Prison and Criminal Justice Reforms in Nigeria (CP-CJR) was formed.
The key message and spirit of the coalition is the understanding that they are stronger together. The first leader of the coalition, Mr Sylvester Uhaa who is the Executive Director Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE Nigeria) declared the need to build bridges between organizations without compromising their independence and assisting each other to amplify the impact of work done.
The time seems to have finally come when CSOs will stop duplicating efforts or work in isolation. The Coalition sets out to change the way CSOs work with each other and create impact. Other organizations in this coalition include Prison Inmates Development Initiative (PIDI), Carmelite Prisoners’ Interest Organization (CAPIO), EarthSpring International, Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), The Centre for Prisons Reforms and Inmates’ Right (CENPRIR) and Society for Empowering Vulnerable Individuals Communities and Systems (SEVICS) among others.
Michaael Ukwuma writes from Enugu. He can be reached on [email protected]
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect WikkiTimes’ editorial stance.
