Women in the Nigerian context are often considered to have easier lives than their male counterparts. This is attributable to the patriarchal nature of the society where male dominance and toxic masculinity thrives.
The man must work and strive to provide for the humbled woman, who must stay subjugated and provided for. However, this is not the tale of women when they end up in prisons.
Chauvinistic males in government even claim that the prison is not a place for women because they are not tough enough. How this plays out is that prisons are designed to adequately punish tough male criminals; a place of neglect by society and government.
Women in prisons have it worse than their male counterparts as the facilities that house them are no different from those of men. They lack basic provisions every woman should have like sanitary pads, some essential medications, pregnancy-related care and adequate housing facilities if they have children who are under 18 months.
Before now, no government has ever initiated a program that considers the needs of women in Prison. These were the concerns that birthed a project by the Carmelite Prisoners’ Interest Organization (CAPIO) and Voice Nigeria.
The project has been partnering with the government, specifically, the Ministry of Interiors on ways to improve the conditions of women in Prisons. The Honorable Minister for Interiors, Lt. General (retd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (PhD) has been outspoken about the need to reform the Prisons System and is always handy with the required support to advance common goals.
Today, we see a few reforms that can improve the lot of women in Nigerian Prisons. Though the reforms are not quite enough,It might be safe to hope that they are the beginning of new and great things to come.
Since the inception of the project titled, advancing the human rights of women prisoners in Nigeria, some great results are emerging. For instance, a few states including Katsina and Ondo States now have operational women Prisons.
There are promises of more independent women prisons with each State of the Federation having one. There are also indications that there are increased supplies of medications, sanitary materials and baby foods in some prisons.
This is yet to become universal or consistent enough to be called a practice in the Nigerian Prisons System. This demonstrates some integrity on the part of the Controller General of Prisons, MrJa’afaru Ahmed who promised that the detention conditions of women would be improved significantly.
While we recognize that there are some positives, the negatives still remain and threaten to mar efforts already made. The government must not relent now. It is time to expedite action on prisons reforms until every state has a functional, independent women prison.
The Prisons Service must now join voices with all non-government actors to mobilize sanitary materials, adequate water, food, medicine and space for women and children.
Children in Nigerian Prisons are a burden on the system. They make Prisons Administration unnecessarily cumbersome and lousy. If the Criminal Justice System fails to keep nursing mothers out of the prison, the prisons system must bear in mind that the child’s best interest supersedes the need to punish the mother.
Children in prison must have access to safe and healthy environments to grow up in the company of family and peers that love them. What kind of education and socialization are they exposed to anyways? But then, who cares?
The Nigerian Government should be used to receiving knocks for the horrible Prisons Systems that it manages. These prisons have been called a lot of things including: ‘hell on earth’.
However, the new efforts in the Prisons System are laudable but it is far from having any real impact. A lot can still be done to make the Prisons better but with dedication and consistency, the System will also transit to the next level.
There is a new dawn in the horizon and all stakeholders in the Criminal Justice System wish it was here already. But will this government disappoint?
