Enhancing rehabilitation and skills acquisition, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Zone G, Benin, has initiated the large-scale production of bread for inmates and the public alike.
The official handover of the bakery to the concessionaire, First Global Hakitekt Bread Bakery Limited, was marked by a commendation from the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Represented by Comfort Kabirwa, the Director of Special Duties in the Ministry, Tunji-Ojo lauded the project as laudable, emphasising the importance of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in achieving such transformative initiatives.
The Minister highlighted that the recent decongestion of Correctional Centres across the country was facilitated through corporate social responsibility rather than government funding.
Tunji-Ojo expressed the belief that innovative projects like the bakery would not only build the skills of inmates but also provide them with a source of livelihood, making them employable upon leaving the correctional center.
"The bakery is a laudable project because it will help build the skills of the inmates, give them a source of livelihood, and make them employable after leaving the correctional centre," Tunji-Ojo stated.
Addressing the change from prisons to correctional facilities, Tunji-Ojo noted that the shift in terminology was intentional, aimed at transforming the way prisoners are treated even after serving their terms.
The Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, explained that the bakery project was a collaborative effort between NCoS and the concessionaire under a PPP arrangement.
Nababa outlined the support from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance, and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission as crucial to the initiative's success.
"It is a pilot initiative aimed at enhancing the performances of Federal Government projects. The First Global Hakitekt Bread Bakery Limited is expected to bring in expertise to allow for a win-win situation for both parties," Nababa remarked.
Representing Nababa, the NCoS Zonal Controller for Zone G, Assistant Controller General Friday Ovie, noted that the initiative aligns with the service's mandate of rehabilitating inmates through skill acquisition.
Managing Director of the bakery, Dare Eluyemi, highlighted that the project's goal was not only to equip inmates with bakery skills but also to create jobs in the bakery value chain.
Eluyemi revealed that the bakery has the capacity to produce bread for over 32,000 inmates daily, contributing to cost reduction in government spending on inmate feeding and generating income by selling to the public.
Edo Controller of NCoS, Philomena Emehinola, expressed optimism about the project's impact on the state, stating, "We will make the project sustainable to feed our inmates as well as build their skills in bakery."
Emehinola mentioned that inmates undergoing bakery training would receive a stipend as an incentive under the earning scheme, with their earnings handed over at the end of their jail term.