Thesis Abstract

<p> </p><p>The study focused on rehabilitation of prison inmates through Vocational Skills Acquisition<br>(VSA) programmesin North West States, Nigeria. Five research questions and five null<br>hypotheses guided the study.The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The<br>population of the study was 1,592prison officials. A sample of 351 respondents was drawn using<br>deliberate sampling technique. The sample was made up of 266 male and 85 female prison<br>officials. The instrument for data collection was self-structured questionnaire titled,<br>“Questionnaire on the Rehabilitation of Prison Inmates through Vocational Skills Acquisition<br>Programmes(QRPITVSAP). Theinstrument was subjected to face validation by three experts in<br>theDepartment of Adult Education and Extra-mural Studies, Department of Vocational and<br>Teacher Education, Department of Science Education, all in the University of Nigeria Nsukka<br>respectively.The internal consistency reliability coefficient for the instrument was obtained for<br>each of the clusters through Cronbach alpha method. The overall reliability coefficient of the<br>instrument was 0.75. The data collected were presented and analysed using descriptive statistics<br>of mean and standard deviation. Real limit of numbers was used to interpret the result while the<br>five null hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics at the probability of 0.05 level of<br>significance. The findings of the study revealed that prison inmates participate to a high extent<br>in the VSA programmes for their rehabilitation, the rehabilitation of prison inmates through<br>VSA programmes has enhanced the social well-being and as well the economic well-being of<br>the inmates to a high extent;challenges that affected the prisons in the rehabilitation of prison<br>inmates through VSA programmes in the North West States’ prisons were inadequate<br>governmental agencies’ support, inadequate support from Non-Governmental Organizations<br>(NGOs), inadequate vocationally trained personnel to train the prison inmates in various<br>vocations, inadequate modern and well-equipped vocational training workshops;strategies for<br>improvement to ensure effective rehabilitation of prison inmates through VSA programmes in<br>the prisonswere provision of more governmental support and non-governmental agencies’<br>support for the promotion of rehabilitation of prison inmates and recruitment of more<br>vocationally trained personnel in the prison services for effective rehabilitation of prison<br>inmates in the prisons. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that prison<br>authorities shouldintroduce more vocational skills acquisition programmes that are not available<br>for the rehabilitation of prison inmates in the prisons and more modern and well equipped<br>workshops should be provided for the rehabilitation of prison inmates in the prisonsof the study<br>area. However, relevant empirical studies on participation of prison inmates in<br>rehabilitationprogrammes; enhancing socio-economic well-being of prison inmates through<br>vocational skills acquisition programmes; challenges affecting the prisons in the rehabilitation<br>of prison inmates and strategies for improvement in the rehabilitation ofprison inmateswere<br>reviewed. In addition to these, two theories that are relevant to the study such as theory of skills<br>acquisition and rehabilitation theory were also reviewed in the review of literature.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>

Thesis Overview

<p> </p><p>INTRODUCTION<br>Background to the Study<br>The Nigerian PrisonsService (NPS) is constitutionally responsible for ensuring the<br>safe custody of offenders as well as their reformation, rehabilitation and re-integration.<br>Dambazau (2007) noted that the rationale for imprisonment is evident in decree No. 9 of<br>1972 which assigned the prisons with the responsibility among others to teach and train the<br>prisoners to become useful and law abiding citizens on discharge. These responsibilities are<br>discharged through carefully designed and well-articulated administrative, reformative and<br>rehabilitative programmes aimed at inculcating discipline, respect for law and order, and the<br>dignity of honest labour (Igbo, 2007). The offender, in this wise, is prepared to become not<br>only law abiding but also useful to both himself and the society at the expiration of his<br>sentence. The United Nations (UN) declaration of human rights in 1948 stated that everyone<br>has a right to education and Rule 71 (3) of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the<br>Treatment of Prisoners stated that “sufficient work of a useful nature shall be provided to<br>keep prisoners actively employed for a normal working day”. Considering the fact that<br>human right is significant, Nigeriastrongly endorsed this declaration in 1976 (Hassan and<br>Oloyede, 2013). Despite this declaration of human right by the UN and Nigeria’s<br>endorsement, the country still remains among the nations of the world that are rated with high<br>rates of crime, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and recidivism among ex-prisoners<br>(Tenibaije, 2010).<br>Adjustment of discharged prisoners in most Nigerian prisons has become a huge<br>problem because the society has come to view such discharged prisoners as social misfits<br>who are not amenable to corrections. The statutory functions of the Nigerian prisons<br>according to the Nigerian Prison Service (N.P.S. Report, 2015), include ensuring the safe<br>2<br>custody of awaiting trial and convicted prisoners as well as reformation and rehabilitation of<br>offenders. In some cases, according to Tanimu (2010), discharged prisoners are unemployed<br>and sometimes stigmatized and treated as social pariahs. This unemployment among inmates<br>and rejection against them by the society, sometimes forces them back to crime.But, it is<br>believed that this could be checked in prisons, through vocational skills acquisition<br>programmes that are geared towards self- reliance on release.<br>In support of this assertion, many investigations have advocated vocational training of<br>prison inmates. According to Onweonye, Obinne and Odu (2013), reformation and<br>rehabilitation are current issues that are central to modern penal-thinking and practices and<br>have been adopted and implemented in some Nigeria prisons using vocational training.<br>However, vocational training in prison is considered essential for the achievement of the<br>purpose of reformation, rehabilitation and integration of discharged prison inmates. Glym and<br>Tracey (2012) stated that vocational skills acquisition programme, is any form of education<br>whose primary purpose is to prepare persons for employment in recognized occupations.<br>Sonfield and Bonbato (2003) observed that the individuals are attracted to self – employment<br>programmes because such programmes have the potential to assist the people to help<br>themselves, create new job and help the larger community.<br>For the purpose of rehabilitation of prison inmates in the country, prison rehabilitation<br>services were established in some Nigerian prisons where inmates acquire skills especially in<br>the area of arts and craft to enable them become self-reliant during and after their jail term<br>and to keep them away from re-entry into prison in the near future. The term rehabilitation<br>according to Tanimu (2010), means to restore to useful life, through therapy and education or<br>to restore to good condition, operation, or capacity. In the word of Onweonye, Obinne and<br>Odu (2013), rehabilitation involves helping an individual to acquire a skill that can afford<br>3<br>him job opportunities in the society. For this study, rehabilitation means a process of helping<br>a prison inmate to re-adapt in the society or to restore someone to a former position or rank.<br>From the foregoing, prison has been a subject of debate among various scholars in the<br>social science disciplines. The concept has been treated from various perspectives, which<br>include structural and functional dimensions. For instance, Tanimu (2010) described a prison<br>as a physical structure in a geographical location where a number of people living under<br>highly specialized condition adjust to the alternatives presented to them by the unique kind of<br>social environment. Similarly, Ogwuoke and Ameh (2014) conceived prison as a place where<br>people are highly secluded from the rest of the world with entirely new order of control.<br>Hence, in the context of this study, prison is an institution designed to securely house and<br>rehabilitate people who have been convicted of crime or are on awaiting trial.<br>Prison is an institution or a walled place unlike free environment or community that<br>houses those who are socially rejected, insane or mentally retarded.Hassan and Oloyede<br>(2013) defined “prison inmate” as a person kept in a conformed institution such as prison or a<br>mental hospital. It is another name given to a prisoner or an offender or violator of law. These<br>individuals known as prisoners or prison inmates are kept in continuous custody on a short or<br>long-term basis. Hence, in the context of this study, prison inmate is person legally confined<br>in an institution designed to securely house people who have been convicted of crime or are<br>on awaiting trial.<br>The emergence of prison as an institution in Nigerian traced from 1861.According to<br>Hassan and Oloyede (2013),the declaration of Lagos as a colony in 1861 marked the<br>beginning of the institution as formal machinery of governance. At this stage, the preoccupation<br>of the Colonial Government was to protect legitimate trade, guarantee the profit<br>of British merchants as well as activities of the Missionaries. To this end, by 1861, the Acting<br>Governor of Lagos Colony who was then a prominent British merchant in Lagos formed a<br>4<br>Police Force of about 25 constables. This was followed in 1863 by the establishment in Lagos<br>of four courts: a police court to resolve petty disputes, a criminal court to try the more serious<br>cases, a slave court to try cases arising from the efforts to abolish the trade in slaves and a<br>commercial court to resolve disputes among merchants and traders. The functioning of these<br>courts and the police in that colonial setting necessarily meant that prison is needed to<br>complete the system. Hence, in 1872 the Broad Street Prison was established with an initial<br>inmate capacity of 300.Lawal (2015) reported that there was evidence of prison in Bonny at<br>this time but not much is known about its size and content.<br>Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) is under the supervision and control of the Ministry of<br>Interior and the Civil Defence, Immigration and Prisons Service Board. Talba (2015) reported<br>that the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) derives its operational powers from CAP 366 Laws<br>of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 to: take into lawful custody of all those certified to be so<br>kept by courts of competent jurisdiction; produce suspects in courts as and when due; identify<br>the causes of their anti-social dispositions; set in motion mechanisms for their treatment and<br>training for eventual reintegration into society as normal law abiding citizens on discharge;<br>and administer prisons farms and industries for this purpose and in the process generate<br>revenue for the government. The prisons service in Nigeria is a Federal phenomenon. The<br>organisation is exclusively a Federal Government concern which means that no State for now<br>has the constitutional responsibility to operate or maintain prisons. Presently, the NPS has a<br>total of 238 prisons. 155 of these are convict prisons while the remaining 83 are satellite<br>prisons. There are also prison related institutions spread across the length of the country:<br>Eighty-three (83) Satellite prison camps, 12 major farm centres,9 cottage industries, 9<br>subsidiary farms, 124 market gardens, 3 Borstal institutions, 1 open camp, 1 staff college, 5<br>training institutions and 1 prison academy.<br>5<br>The conventional convict prisons are for the remand of both the convicted and<br>awaiting trial prison inmates. Talba(2015) noted that there are two major types of convict<br>prisons operational in Nigeria. These are the maximum and the medium security prisons. The<br>maximum security prisons take into custody of all classes of prisoners including condemned<br>convicts; lifers and long term prisoners among others. Even so, there is unofficial<br>classification of these Maximum Security Prisons in terms of heightened security. This<br>explains why a high risk prisoner could be sent to one Maximum Security Prison as against<br>another. The Medium Security Prisons on the other hand take into custody both remand<br>prison inmates and convicts.<br>However, short term convicts constitute the bulk of the inmates that should ordinarily<br>be found in the medium prisons. The satellite prisons can be described as intermediate<br>prisons camps set up mainly in areas with courts that are far from the main prisons.They<br>serve the purpose of providing remand centres especially for those whose cases are going on<br>in courts within the areas. In some times, awaiting trial inmates with minor cases are also<br>kept in this type of prisons. When convicted, long term prisoners could be moved to<br>appropriate convict prisons to service their terms. The convicts prisons also, are prisons are<br>places where convicted inmates are kept for a short or long term imprisonment and receiving<br>vocational training for their rehabilitation. The farm centres according to Talba (2015) are<br>agricultural prison camps set up primarily to train prison inmates in agro-based vocations so<br>that after their incarceration, they will have agro-based skills to depend upon. The convicts<br>are expected to be taught to appreciate the dignity of labour. The farm centres are large<br>mechanized farms that are located in the food producing areas of the different geopolitical<br>regions of the country. Subsidiary farms and market gardens are agricultural extension<br>projects usually attached to some state prisons command headquarters for the same purpose<br>as state above. They are made up of vegetable-producing market gardens, poultry and piggery<br>6<br>farms etc. Apart from training inmates in all these agro-based vocations, these endeavors are<br>expected to yield revenue to the State.<br>The Borstal institutions according to Lawal (2015) are for the remand and treatment of<br>juvenile offenders. At the moment, the Prisons Service has only three of such in Kaduna and<br>Ilorin in the North and Abeokuta in the South. Plans are underway to build more to take care<br>of the cases of juveniles who are increasing in numbers and who because of their age should<br>not only be mixed with adult prisoners but should be deserving of different treatment<br>methods from those of the adults. For the purposes of staff development, the Nigeria prisons<br>run five Training Institutions: The Prison Staff College, Kaduna, which trains and retrains<br>superior officers; three training schools for the training and retraining of subordinate staff in<br>Kaduna, Lagos and Enugu and the Armed Squad Training School, Owerri for the training of<br>the armed squad personnel.<br>In the North West of Nigeria, there are seven States and 187 Local Government Areas<br>with 63 prisons: 14 prisons in Kaduna State, 14 in Kano State, 11 in Katsina State, 5 in Kebbi<br>State, 9 in Jigawa State, 5 in Sokoto State and 5 in Zamfara State. In an effort to revamp the<br>prison system in the country, Adeola (2012) reported that the Nigerian Prisons Service has<br>been renamed following the third reading and passage of “A Bill for an Act to repeal the<br>Prisons Act Cap. P29 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and enact the Nigerian Prison<br>and Correctional Service in order to make comprehensive provision for the administration of<br>prisons in Nigeria and for related purpose by the Senate”. According to the Bill, the change of<br>name of the sector is “to underscore the human aspect of the reform focus of prisons<br>administration and to conform to provisions in the international instrument”.<br>Reform and rehabilitation of convicts, can be actualized through a complicated set of<br>mechanisms consisting among others: conscientization, group work, recreational activities,<br>religious services and adult and remedial education programmes, skills acquisition<br>7<br>programmes, agricultural services and after-care services programmes (Orakwe, 2005). But it<br>seems like, the providers of rehabilitation services are either ill-equipped or do not have the<br>training to give wholesome services that can affect inmates’ lives positively. Recidivism,<br>whichis relapsing of discharged inmates back to criminal behavior, is on the increase in some<br>North West States’ prisons of Nigeria. Despite the fact that Hassan and Oloyede (2013)<br>revealed that rehabilitation services in Nigerian prisons are meant to reduce cases of<br>recidivism among prison inmates by empowering them to become useful citizens of the free<br>society after incarceration. It is unfortunate that the trade facilities for the rehabilitation of<br>inmates in some States of Nigeria are inadequate. In addition to this, Chukwumerije (2014)<br>revealed that statistics from 19 prisons across Nigeria indicated that more than 60 percent of<br>the inmates were recidivists (i.e. those who are discharged after their jail term and reconvicted<br>after some time). This seemed to indicate a relative weakness of the Nigerian<br>prisons to rehabilitate inmates.<br>Therefore, this could be checked through vocational training programmes that are<br>geared towards self- reliance on release. In spite of the present modest improvements of the<br>prison service, the prison inmates’ population in the country continues to witness a dramatic<br>increase in recent years of which Ogunleye (2014) noted that the figures from the prisons<br>indicate that there was a total of 48,408 prisoners in custody nationwide as at the year 2014.<br>Out of this number, 33,552 are awaiting trials while only 14,856 are convicts. About 70<br>percent of these persons “awaiting trials” are charged for offences ranging from armed<br>robbery to murder, arson, drugs trafficking and pipeline offences among others. Infurtherance<br>of the cases of recidivism among prison inmates in the country, it is not surprising then when<br>Chukwumerije (2014) commented that out of 6,183 inmates discharged only 917 were given<br>transport fare back home while only 119 could secure trade tools for self-reliant occupations<br>so far. In this perspective Yakubu (2006), stated that discharging a helpless ex-convict<br>8<br>without vocational skills and tools into the difficult environment is merely to create a stronger<br>case for a return to crime.<br>In essence, skills acquisition – call it technical training – is aimed at ensuring selfreliance<br>for the end products and thus practice must be emphasized over theory. Rogers<br>(2001) noted that entrepreneurship skills (an aspect of vocational skills) are life-skills of a<br>practical nature where they are properly delivered. Where theory takes a higher proportion of<br>a skills training scheme, the outcome may not meet the expectations of either the trainees or<br>the society.<br>The term “skill” as described by Eboh (2009) is the habit of doing something well,<br>especially skill gained through training or experience. In the word of Sanda and Abba (2015),<br>skill is the ability to perform an activity expertly. They further added that skill is a wellestablished<br>habit of doing things and involves the acquisition of performance capability<br>through repetitive performance of an operation. Abba (2009), classified skills into technical<br>and human skills that technical skills are those skills that call for proficiency in specific<br>activities, particularly those involving methods, processes, procedures or techniques for their<br>effective performance. Human skill on the other hand deals with skills acquire through years<br>of experience or training for proficiency on the job.<br>In the view of Abba (2009), a person who works productively is skilled because he<br>has acquired the habit of performing a task in an acceptable manner within his job, the<br>possession of skills marks a difference between a professional and an amateur. Skill is the<br>learned capacity to carry out predetermined results often with the minimum outlay of time,<br>energy, or both (Sanda and Abba, 2015). Skills can often be divided into domain-general and<br>domain- specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would<br>include time management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas<br>domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain jobs like computing and marketing<br>9<br>trade. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of<br>skill being shown and used.While the term “vocational skills acquisition programmes” are<br>vocational programmes that involves the acquisition of skills, knowledge and attitudes<br>necessary for effective employment in specific occupation. Vocational skills acquisition<br>Programmes delivered in prison involve instruction for a specific trade, occupation, or<br>vocation such as carpentry, welding, auto repair, building maintenance, and graphic arts<br>among others.<br>In an effort to reduce the rate of crimes, unemployment among the prison inmates<br>even inside and outside the prison wall and recidivism among ex-convicts in North West<br>States,Yakubu (2002) reported thatVocational Skill Acquisition (VSA) programmes for the<br>rehabilitation of prison inmates has been advocated, designed and provided for a wide range<br>of job-related skills in Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto States of the study area. These<br>programmes as perceived by the prison officials are both relevant and essential for the selfemployment<br>of the inmates and for them to become self-reliant during and after their jail term<br>and keep away from re-entry into prison in the near future. It also involves the acquisition of<br>skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for effective employment of the inmates in specific<br>occupations.<br>Perceptionin question can be conceptualised as the organization, identification, and<br>interpretation of sensory informationin order to represent and understand the environment.<br>According to Lawal (2015), all perception involves signals in the nervous systems which in<br>turn, result from physical or chemical stimulation of the sense organs. In the context of this<br>study, perception connotes the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory<br>informationin order to represent and understand the prison environment in relation to<br>rehabilitation of prison inmates through vocational skills acquisition programmes.<br>10<br>The available VSA programmes in North-West States as perceived by prison<br>officialsin Shattima (2015) include agro-based skills acquisition, carpentry and joinery work,<br>dress making, hair dressing, knitting, laundry and dry cleaning services, metalwork, soap and<br>pomade making skills acquisition programmes.<br>Agro- based vocational skills acquisition programme, is an occupational activity that<br>entails learning skills of farming in the area of animal husbandry, crop farming and arable<br>farming either through irrigation or rainy season farming. The agricultural produce is for<br>market and domestic consumption (Kristal, 2015). In the context of this study,agro- based<br>vocational skills acquisition programmes for prison inmates are educational programme<br>designed for the rehabilitation of prison inmates. This programme involves occupational<br>activity that entails animal production, crop production, pomology and arable crop production<br>programme. These activities aims at helping prison inmate acquire skills of farming<br>occupation for self-reliance after their jail term and as well generate personal income and<br>revenue for the prison while on their jail term.<br>Carpentry and joinery work vocational skills acquisition programme involves<br>acquiring skills in the art of working with timber in order to construct and maintain buildings,<br>furniture and other objects such as book cases, cabinets, doors, windows, stairs and such<br>special items by joining wood without the use of nails. Muhammed (2015) asserted that the<br>trade is also attached with the art of working with timber in order to builds items like book<br>cases, cabinets, doors, windows, stairs and such special items by joining wood without the<br>use of nails. In the context of this study, these activities are fulfilled by the prison inmates for<br>self-reliance during and after their jail term and as well generate personal income and revenue<br>for the prison while on their jail term.<br>Dress making skills / enterprise is typically desired by cloth wearing classes (Word of<br>craft, 2015). It also entails an activity that involves learning in occupations that entail<br>11<br>measurement, cutting of cloth of different types into different shapes and designed pattern<br>into a complete dress of different types (Igbo and Ileoeje, 2012). In the context of this<br>study,is a vocational skills acquisition programme designed for rehabilitation of prison<br>inmates.It is an activity thatinvolves measuring and cutting of cloth of different types into<br>different sizes and shapes and designed pattern to produce different types of dresses using<br>automatic and manual sewing machines for market and domestic use purpose. It also involves<br>occupational activity that entailsthe art of working with sewing materials and machines to<br>produce prison officials and other Para- military uniforms as well as men and women native<br>dresses by the prison inmates for self-reliance after their jail term and as well generate<br>personal income and revenue for the prison while on their jail term.<br>Hair dressing vocational skills acquisition programme; has been defined differently by<br>variously scholars. Victor (2006) defined the term as an establishment dealing with hair<br>treatments for men and women. It is an activity that involves provision of services related to<br>hair decoration for fashion and health benefit. Hair removal is offered at some beauty salons<br>through treatments such as waxing and threading. This is achieved using a combination of<br>hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques.Hair dressing skills acquisition<br>programme involves occupational activity that entailsthe art of working with hair dressing<br>machines to render internal and external hair style services by hair dressers.In the context of<br>this study, hair “dressing” is a vocational skills acquisition programme designed for<br>rehabilitation of prison inmates. This programme involves activities in occupations that has to<br>do with provision of services related to hair decoration, cutting and style in order to change or<br>maintain a person’s image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting,<br>and hair texturing techniques for fashion and health benefit. Hair dressing is offered at some<br>beauty salons through treatments such as waxing and threading.<br>12<br>Laundry and dry cleaning vocational skills acquisition programme; the term dry<br>cleaning refers to cleaning clothes and fabrics using a chemical solvent rather than water.It is<br>referred to as any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other<br>than water.In the context of this study,laundry and dry cleaning vocational skills acquisition<br>programme. In the context of this study, is a vocational skills acquisition programme<br>designed for rehabilitation of prison inmates. It is an activity that involves the art of working<br>with detergent, soap and other simple cleaning chemicals to wash clothes of different types<br>and rough carpet by the prison inmates for self-reliance after their jail term and as well<br>generate personal income and revenue for the prison while on their jail term.<br>Metalwork vocational skills acquisition programme: involves activities in occupations<br>that entail designing, processing, welding and fabrication of metal products. It includes<br>activities among others in welding and fabrication of metal products, soldering and brazing<br>and metalwork hand tools use skills. However these activities are also classifiably relative to<br>the unskilled, semiskilled or skilled workers. In Nigeria, the following are typical example of<br>metalworkers; Jeweler, auto body repair (panel beater), forge operators, machine operator,<br>fitter (iron bender), sheet metal worker, structural steel worker, tool maker, welder,<br>blacksmith etc. (Oranu, Nwoke &amp; Ogwo, 2002). In the context of this study, metal work<br>skills acquisition programmeis a programme designed for rehabilitation of prison inmates. It<br>is an occupational activity that involves designing, processing, welding and fabrication of<br>metal products. Metalwork skills acquisition programme is an activity that entailsthe art of<br>working with metal sheet, iron, welding and cutting equipment and other welding and<br>fabrication equipment by the prison inmates to acquire metalwork skills for self-reliance after<br>their jail term and as well generate personal income and revenue for the prison while on their<br>jail term. Welding and fabrication are the major metalwork on practice in the prisons of the<br>study area.<br>13<br>Soap making vocational skills acquisition programme involves activities in<br>occupations that entail production of substance used for washing or cleaning, consisting of a<br>mixture of sodium or potassium salts of naturally occurring fatty acids (David, Anneken,<br>Sabine, Georg, Udo and Alfred, 2006). Hence, in the context of this study, soap making skills<br>acquisition entails vocational skills acquisition programme designed for rehabilitation of<br>prison inmates. It involves continuous processes of using smaller-scale production which<br>involves the traditional batch soap processes. In the North West States’ Nigerian prisons,<br>Double Boiler Hot Process (DBHP) is majorly adopted for soap making vocational skills<br>acquisition programme and two major types of soaps are produced in the prisons such as,<br>washing and decorative soap.<br>Pomade making vocational skills acquisition programmes; pomade is a word actually<br>originated from French. Their word pommade, meaning “an ointment” came from the Latin<br>pomum (fruit, apple) via the Italian words pomata from pomo, meaning “apple”, because the<br>original recipe contained mashed up apples in itRaymond and William (2015).In the context<br>of this study, pomade making entails an activity that involved processing of soy wax,<br>castorlatum, and essential oils to produce a greasy and waxy substance used to style hair.<br>Pomade is “-a scented ointment, especially one used for the scalp or for dressing the hair.”<br>The major types of pomades produced in the North West States’ prisons, are Vegan pomades<br>for prison inmates to learn skills of pomade making for self-reliance after their jail term and<br>as well generate personal income and revenue for the prison while on their jail term.<br>Knitting vocational skills acquisition programmes; knitting is a method by which yarn<br>is manipulated to create a textile or fabric. Knitting creates multiple loops of yarn, called<br>stitches, in a line or tube. Knitting has multiple active stitches on the needle at one time.<br>According toRutt (2003), different types of yarns (fibre type, texture, and twist), needle sizes,<br>and stitch types may be used to achieve knitted fabrics with diverse properties (colour,<br>14<br>texture, weight, heat retention, water resistance, and/or integrity). Like weaving, knitting is a<br>technique for producing a two-dimensional fabric made from a one-dimensional yarn or<br>thread. In weaving, threads are always straight, running parallel either lengthwise (warp<br>threads) or crosswise (weft threads). In the context of this study, is a vocational skills<br>acquisition programmes designed for the rehabilitation of prison inmates.<br>In the context of this study, it is an activity that involves a process by which yarn is<br>manipulated to create a textile or fabric. Knitting creates multiple loops of yarn, called<br>stitches, in a line or tube. Knitting may be done by hand or by using a machine.Two major<br>varieties of knitting are on practice in the prisons of North West, Nigeria: weft knitting and<br>warp knitting. This is to enable prison inmates learn knitting skills for self-reliance after their<br>jail term and as well generate personal income and revenue for the prison while on their jail<br>term.<br>As these skills acquisition programmes exist in Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto states’<br>prisons, other four North-West States according to Mango (2006) such as Kano, Kebbi,<br>Jigawa and Zamfara States find it difficult to implement the programmes in their prisons.<br>This can be as a result of absence or inadequate Federal Government provision for vocational<br>skills acquisition programmes in its National Policy on Education for the rehabilitation of<br>prison inmates in the country. And also due to inadequate governmental and nongovernmental<br>agencies’ support to the prison authority for custody and rehabilitation of<br>inmates in the prisons. In line with this, Evawoma-Enuku (2001) revealed that education is a<br>marginal activity in Nigerian prisons. There is no known official policy on education<br>throughout the prisons in Nigeria. Evawoma-Enuku concluded that educational provision<br>varies from prison to prison.Lawal (2015) noted that the overall goal of vocational skills<br>acquisition programmes for the rehabilitation of prison inmates in the North West States’<br>prisons is to reduce inmates’ risk of recidivating by teaching them marketable skills they can<br>15<br>use to find and retain employment following release from prison. Stressing the importance of<br>VSA programmes for rehabilitation prison inmate, Evawoma-Enuku (2006) believed that if<br>prison inmates receive vocational training while in the prison, they will become functionally<br>rehabilitated for self-reliant. According to Onweonye, Obinne, &amp; Odu (2013), reformation<br>and rehabilitation are current issues central to modern penal-thinking. Onweonye et-al further<br>added that the rationale behind skill acquisition programmes for prison inmates is three-fold:<br>to instill discipline in the inmates, create in them respect for law and inculcate dignity of<br>labour.<br>Therefore, the skills acquired by prison inmates while in prison become survival tools<br>for self-employment upon discharge. With the presence of these trade facilities in some North<br>West States’ prisons, Masari (2015) noted that some prison inmates have realized the<br>importance of work which can help them to re-enter the society after their release,<br>Acquisition of theses vocational skills enhanced the social and economic well- being of the<br>inmates within and outside the prison wall.<br>Social: The term social can be define as process of seeking or enjoying the<br>companionship of others; friendly; sociable; gregarious. A process of relating to, connected<br>with, or suited to polite or fashionable society.Whileeconomics is the social science that<br>describes the factors that determine the production, distribution and consumption of goods<br>and services. Economics has been called “the science of how people make a<br>living.”According to Andrew and Andrew (2008), economics is a study of man in the<br>ordinary business of life. It enquires how he gets his income and how he uses it.<br>Besides the traditional concern in production, distribution, and consumption in an<br>economy, economic analysis may be applied throughout society, as inbusiness, finance,<br>health care, and government. Hence,in the context of this study, economics is the study of<br>wealth and on the other and more important side, a part of the study of man. Economics is a<br>16<br>science which studies prison inmates’ behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce<br>means which have alternative uses. Economics focuses on the behavior and interactions of<br>economic agentsand how economies work.<br>Well-being:Is a general term for the condition of an individual or group, for example<br>their social, economic, psychological, spiritual or medical state; a high level of well-being<br>means in some sense the individual or group’s condition is positive, while low well-being is<br>associated with negative happenings (Giboa, 2011).Inphilosophy: The term ‘well-being is<br>used to refer to how well a person’s life goes for the person who lives it. According to Daniels<br>(2012), well-being features in normative ethical theories, most notably utilitarianism. One<br>need not be a utilitarianor a consequentialist more generally, to think that well-being matters<br>morally.<br>In economics: The term is used for one or more quantitativemeasures intended to<br>assess the quality of life of a group, for example, in the capabilities approachand the<br>economics of happiness. As with the related cognate terms ‘wealth’ and ‘welfare’, economics<br>sources often contrast the state with its opposite. According to Tamir (2012), the term “wellbeing”<br>can simply be referred towelfare or wellness. A more current definition of wellness<br>and its distinction from health is the following: Wellness refers to diverse and interconnected<br>dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being that extend beyond the traditional<br>definition of health. In the context of this study, well-being refers to the sum total of wellness<br>of an individual in terms of biological and physical health, emotional and psychological<br>wellness, mental and social states. It connotes lack of depression or anxiety. This state of the<br>mind is important as it determines the general health and well-being of an inmate. It also<br>includes choices and activities aimed at achieving physical vitality, mental alacrity, social<br>satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and personal fulfillment.In other words, although<br>17<br>health is part of wellbeing, some people are able to maintain satisfactory wellbeing despite<br>the presence of psychological symptoms.<br>Cognitive well-being: Cognitive well-being is developed through assessing one’s<br>interactions with their environment and other people. (Giboa, 2011) noted that people tend to<br>assess their cognitive well-being based on the social classes that are in their community. In<br>communities with a wide variety of social statuses, the lower class will tend to compare their<br>lifestyle to those of higher class and assess what they do and do not have that could lead to a<br>higher level of well-being. In the context of this study whenever prison inmates interprets<br>their needs and wants as to being satisfied or not, they then develop their cognitive wellbeing.<br>Affective well-being: These are the different levels ofeffecton well-being: high<br>negative affect is represented by anxiety and hostility; low negative affect is represented by<br>calmness and relaxation; high positive affect is represented by a state of pleasant<br>arousalenthusiasm and low positive affect is represented by a state of unpleasantness and low<br>arousal (dull, sluggish)Well-being is most usefully thought of as the dynamic process that<br>gives people a sense of how their lives are going, through the interaction between their<br>circumstances, activities and psychological resources or sense of their own ‘mental capital<br>(Daniels, 2012)’. It could be said that well-being “is a state of complete wellness of<br>incarcerated prison inmates”.<br>Education: When talking about the school system, the idea of well-being is not as well<br>defined. According to Joshanloo (2015), it is argued that school should only be about learning<br>andeducationbut learners also learn about social skills and themselves. Main (2010) noted<br>that when individual learners feel like they belong, they are more likely to perform better in<br>school. As well as accessing an education, ideally they need to learn how to believe in<br>18<br>themselves and create purpose for themselves. If well-being is established in prison inmates<br>during their jail terms then it is more likely to play a part in their life as they get back to the<br>larger society after incarceration.<br>Financial wellbeing: The term “wellbeing” has traditionally focused on improving<br>physical, emotional and mental quality of life with little understanding of how dependent they<br>all are on financial health. However, financial stress often manifests itself in physical and<br>emotional difficulties that lead to increased healthcare costs and reduced productivity.<br>Social well-being: Is an end state in which basic human needs are met and people are<br>able to coexist peacefully in communities with opportunities for advancement. This end state<br>is characterized by equal access to and delivery of basic needs services (water, food, shelter,<br>and health services), the provision of primary and secondary education, the return or<br>resettlement of those displaced by violent conflict, and the restoration of social fabric and<br>community life. According Hatcher (2002), peace cannot be sustained over the long term<br>without addressing the social well-being of a population. Without basic necessities such as<br>food or shelter, large-scale social instability will persist because people will be unable to<br>resume the functions of normal lifesustaining a livelihood, traveling safely, engaging in<br>community activities, or attending school. Without helping people return to their homes or<br>new communities of their choice or providing a means for peacefully keeping away from<br>crimes and civil offences, prison inmates and ex-prisoners may not move beyond recidivating<br>back to prison or rebuild their lives.<br>In order to actualize social well-being, access to and delivery of basic needs services<br>is a condition in which the population has equal access to and can obtain adequate water,<br>food, shelter, and health services to ensure survival and life with dignity. These services<br>should be delivered in a manner that fosters reliability and sustainability. In the context of<br>19<br>this study, the term “social wellbeing” is a sense of involvement with prison inmates and with<br>prison environment or with our communities. Many researchers believed that wellbeing is not<br>just about being happy or content, but also about being actively engaged with life and with<br>other people.<br>Economic well-being:Is a person’s or family’s standard of living based primarily on<br>how well they are doing financially.According to Lionel (2014), eeconomic well-being is<br>measured by the government to determine how their citizens are faring, as it is integral in a<br>person’s overall well-being. In the context of this study, the term “economic well-being” is a<br>prison inmate’s or members of the prison community’s standard of living based primarily on<br>how well they are doing financially. Without helping prison inmates return to their homes or<br>normal life and re-integrate with the larger society in normal way, or providing a means for<br>peacefully keeping away from crimes and civil offences, prison inmates and ex-prisoners<br>may not move beyond recidivating back to prison or rebuild their lives. Economic well-being<br>is measured by the prison authorities to determine how their inmates are faring, as it is<br>integral in an inmate’s overall well-being. Perhaps the most popular measures of economic<br>well- being are inmates’ income and inmates’ net worth, income measures the amount of<br>money that enters a prison inmates over a period of time (usually measured over a one- year<br>period), and net worth measures the amount of resources an inmate owns at a particular point<br>in time, less any debts the inmate owes.<br>Challenges:Challenge is a term which has been defined in different meaning by different<br>scholars. The term “challenges” according to Giboa (2011), are always accompanied by a<br>related action step that challengesyou to fulfill a task or take action against something you<br>want to achieve. It is like something that needs a lotof skill,energy, and determination to deal<br>with or achieve, especiallysomething you have never done before and will enjoydoing.In the<br>context of this study, challenges are related action step that challenges prisons to fulfill their<br>20<br>rehabilitation of prison inmates through vocational skills acquisition programmes effectively<br>or achieve the desired objectives of rehabilitation.<br>Strategy: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term: which<br>achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a<br>challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations.<br>Strategies exist at several levels in any organisation – ranging from the overall business (or<br>group of businesses) to individuals working in it. According to Agbakwuru and Godfrey<br>(2016), it concerns strategic decisions about choice of products, meeting needs of customers,<br>gaining advantage over competitors, exploiting or creating new opportunities among others;<br>In the context of this study, the strategy adopted is based on operational strategy – is<br>concerned with how each part of the vocational skills acquisition programme is organised to<br>deliver the prison and programme unit level strategic direction. In other words, strategy is<br>about: Where is the VSA programmes for rehabilitation of prison inmates trying to get to in<br>the long-term direction; what kind of activities are involved in such VSA programmes<br>(scope); how can VSA programmes perform better than the other rehabilitation programmes<br>in the prison?; what resources (skills, assets, finance, relationships, technical competence,<br>facilities) are required in order to be able to compete? (Resources); what external,<br>environmental factors affect the VSA programmes’ ability to rehabilitate prison inmates<br>(environment); what are the values and expectations of those who are the managers in and<br>around the programmes. Strategies exist at several levels in any organization, ranging from<br>the overall business (or group of businesses) through to individuals working in it.While<br>reformation and rehabilitation are current issues central to modern penal-thinking.<br>Rehabilitation has long been a contentious topic in the fields of both criminology and<br>penology. Rehabilitation is a concept that has myriads of definition arising from the fact that<br>21<br>scholars define it according to the school of thought to which they belong. The term<br>“rehabilitation” itself simply means the process of helping a person to readapt to society or to<br>restore someone to a former position or rank. According to Ugwuoke &amp; Ameh (2014)<br>rehabilitation has been considered a primary goal of the prison system throughout the<br>twentieth century.<br>For this research work, rehabilitation means to restore a prisoner to useful life, as through<br>therapy and education or to restore to good condition, operation or capacity. Rehabilitation<br>programmes in prisons include educational programs, pre-release programs and vocational<br>skills acquisition programs. A prisoner without adequate rehabilitation opportunity through<br>skills training and capacity building usually returns to the society which has incarcerated him<br>or her as a hardened enemy of that society. Therefore, rehabilitation seems to be a good<br>reason why some formal inmates could not return to jail. It appears that the time in<br>incarceration was spend proactively, changing some vital aspect of the criminal.<br>Rehabilitation gives prisoners the opportunity to increase their knowledge and also ensure<br>that inmates are socially well adjusted, psychological assessments are being meted to test for<br>mental and emotional disabilities that led to their incarceration in the first place.<br>The term “skills” are more commonly used in the context of trades, occupations, and<br>vocations and</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>