Before warders go on strike

Although there are no unions to push for their welfare, officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) recently threatened to embark on a strike over what they described as meagre salaries and poor working conditions. They complained about alleged neglect by the Nigerian State despite the obviously hazardous conditions under which they continue to work. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, recently had to initiate a smart move to avert what could have been tantamount to mutiny if the men in the force had proceeded on a strike.

Already, the issue of security of the Nigerian State has become a serious burden to its handlers who continue to pretend as if all is well while adverse situations persist. A case in point is the incidence of unresolved jailbreaks in recent times. The threat by junior officers of the paramilitary agencies to go on strike suggests that, like the vast majority of Nigerians, they are having trouble coping with inflation. They have to contend with existential challenges, including, in the case of warders, the lack of barracks!

Nigerians now live in extremely dire circumstances that can only be denied by callous supervisors. At the moment, even with warders at their duty posts, prisons are being broken into regularly. The recent jailbreak in Oyo State remains fresh in people’s memory. After that incident, a fugitive remanded in the Abolongo correctional centre following acts of terrorism was discovered absent from the facility. Without doubt, this is a symptom of state failure. A strike by warders poses severe security risks and it should be avoided at all costs. Nigeria already has enough security challenges to contend with, adding yet another burden through warders’ strike would be quite unconscionable.

A cursory look at the demands of the warders shows the appalling conditions in which they work. If anything, the lack of decent accommodation within the precincts of their workplace deserves proper investigation and attention. It is absurd to speak of prison reform and even effect a change in the prison service’s nomenclature while treating prison workers as sub-human species. This is no time for rhetoric: the government must begin the construction of barracks for the use of the officers and men of the NCS immediately. In the same vein, their wages must be adjusted to reflect inflationary and social realities. This is part of what any modern state requires as necessary conditions for it to function optimally. There is no need to perpetuate the vestiges of a colonial administration that operated occupation forces to drive its will and purposes among a reluctant civil population.

Indeed, the changes canvassed here should be replicated in all the security agencies as part of their reinvention philosophy. If the warders of the NCS eventually go on strike, the prospects for the country will be definitely dismal. The government would have to resort to a police force already stretched too thin for security at the various correctional centres in the country. That would leave many yawning for outlaws to exploit and do maximum damage in the interim, and it is clearly not an option for a beleaguered country whose previous jailbreaks remain unresolved. The Federal Government should address the concerns of the disgruntled workers rather than issuing subtle threats should they go ahead with their plan.