.As inmates get training in Renewable Energy
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The Federal Government has expressed its desire to build solar mini-grids in some of the nation’s custodial centres, with a view to enhancing inmates’ welfare, round-the-clock illumination, powering electronic security gadgets and checking security breaches in and around the facilities.
Accordingly, the government will also use the mini grids to power the various farm centres belonging to the Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS.
The decision was announced at the weekend in Abuja when the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS, Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche led a delegation to meet with the Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency REA, Abba Aliyu.
Nwakuche who said he has been meeting with sister agencies and other relevant organizations in order to develop mutual assistance agreements, said his decision to seek partnership with the REA would go a long way in assisting the service and equipping inmates with lifelong skills.
He said; “I am here to seek for your cooperation towards working with you and bringing to your knowledge, a community that is not being recognized in the scheme of things, the custodial facilities. It is a community of its own, having its own life but which importance people do not seem to recognize. As CGC, I represent that community.
“I am here to see how we can extend that which your agency brings, which is light, to our facilities.
“This is a place where you have the guilty and innocent. It is not everyone there that is guilty. That is why we have awaiting trial inmates. It is a place anyone can be in tomorrow. It could be you or me tomorrow.
“The change of name is more than just that. This is a place people go to school. We have PhD, Masters Degree and Degree holders.
“You need to assist us by giving us light because light is life. We can start small by taking two or three or our facilities per geopolitical zone. We also have farm centres when cu can be powered by solar grids. We have the manpower to give you and we have the land in our facilities to give you for the grids”, he added.
Responding, Aliyu said the agency has been making institutional interventions in education, health, agriculture, defence as well as SMEs, adding that his leadership is willing to make the same intervention in the the correctional Service.
He also granted the request to train inmates in the area of renewable energy, saying both she cues would work out the details.
“I want to assure you that we will extend our intervention to your community. It is definitely not going to be a forgotten community. We will reach out to your community. We will energize the community.
“We can also extend training to the inmates. We will look into how we can extend this capacity development to your community”, he pledged.
The REA boss praised the ingenuity of the CGC in reaching out to the agency, describing the action as very innovative.
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