|
Nigeria Looks to North Carolina Corrections
as a Model
By George Dudley
George Dudley
Administrator Robert Smith (now retired),
second from the left, leads the first Nigerian delegation on
a tour of Maury Correctional Institution. From the left, the
uniformed officials are Ishaya Jagafa, deputy controller
general of Nigerian prisons; Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche,
assistant controller of prisons; Umaru Saraki, assistant
controller general of prisons in Kaduna; and Adebiyi Michael
Onaadepo, controller of prisons at Lagos State Command. Also
with the delegation was Catherine Nkolika Ononye, officer in
charge of administration and staff at Lagos State Command.
Second from right is Dr. Leolade Samuel, a Lanesboro
Correctional Institution dentist whose father is a native of
Nigeria.
North Carolina’s prison system has caught the fancy of
Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria. A country of 135
million people, 40,000 of which are imprisoned, Nigeria is
anxious to bring its prison system up to modern standards.
To do that, Nigerian officials are coming to North Carolina
to learn best practices in prison facility construction,
security, management and rehabilitation programming.
In October 2007, North Carolina began a year-long reception
of a total of 60 Nigerian prison managers. Five-member
delegations arrive each month to tour and study several of
the state’s 78 prisons. The first delegation included five
officials and the deputy controller general of the Nigerian
prison system, Ishaya Jagafa. “We have already gained a lot
of knowledge just from this first visit,” Jagafa
said.
The October prison tours — of Central Prison and Wake,
Maury, Nash and Fountain correctional facilities — exposed
the delegates to a variety of prison operations, including
close-custody and minimum-custody procedures and structures,
male and female units, work release programs, and the
Correction Enterprises prison industry program. They also
reviewed a variety of program areas such as education, drug
abuse counseling, work assignments and inmate reentry. “It
was great to see brand new facilities and to see the great
differences in types of facilities,” Jagafa said.
Nigerian officials were first exposed to North Carolina’s
prisons in August 2006 while attending the American
Correctional Association’s Congress of Correction in
Charlotte. This served as the impetus for the study as the
officials sought more information about the state’s
correctional system and operations. Ensuing discussions led
to the study tours. “We are honored that they see us as a
model correctional agency,” North Carolina Secretary
of Correction Theodis Beck said.
A key facilitator of the study in the U.S. was Abel Ekpunobi,
Ph.D., of Chapel
Hill, N.C., a correctional consultant and native of Nigeria. Ekpunobi helped arrange the study tour after learning about
the Nigerian controller general’s interest in prison reform.
Nigeria needs a new approach to corrections, excellent
examples of which they will find in North Carolina, Ekpunobi
said. Additionally, North Carolina and Nigeria have similar
climates, resources and inmate population sizes.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” Jagafa
said. “North Carolina has a very good system. It focuses on
training inmates. It’s a good model.”
David Osborne, assistant director of the Division of
Prisons, is managing the study tours for the Department of
Correction. Joe Lofton, retired Eastern Region director, is
assisting the Division of Prisons with the project by
coordinating tours with the field and special assignments of
host team members. The division has 32 employees who either
are natives of Nigeria, have family members in Nigeria, or
are especially interested in being involved in this
initiative and have agreed to serve on a host committee.
George Dudley is a public affairs officer for
the North Carolina Department of Correction.
Click for
Executive Director's Corner
|
