NIGERIA (Lagos) – Tunwase Kabiru, a middle aged man, who is currently serving life sentence for murder at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos State, was part of 4,308 students who graduated with various degrees at the third convocation of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Lagos State.

He awarded a Bachelor’s degree (BA) in Human Resources Management.

In his speech shortly after the ceremony, Kabiru said: “I want to thank God for what he is doing in my life. I have always had hope in God and that is what inspired me to enroll. I was actually imprisoned after being found guilty of committing murder and I have served 11 years so far.

“I am still hopeful that things will turn around one day for the better, having achieved what I have today.”

In the same vein, the Assistant Comptroller-General Nigeria Prisons, Chuks Afejue, hailed the courage of the inmate in achieving success despite difficulties.

According to him, this will prove to people that the prison is not just a dumping ground for those who seem not to have any more hope.

He said: “The prison is a place where reforms and rehabilitation take place. Currently, we have a total of 48 inmates who are enrolled in all the four major prison study centres across the country.

“It is an exciting exercise and we want to seize this opportunity to plead with the Federal Government to try and temper justice with mercy, having achieved this feat.”

In addition to that, the Study Centre Director, Mr Ladan Babakodong, said two other inmates were to join Kabiru to graduate but that they were unable to meet up the minimum graduation requirements.

He noted that research had shown that the performance of the inmates were better when compared to their counterparts outside because their only job while in the prison was reading.

He said: “A lot more of the inmates are very eager to enroll but have no support. The only ones that are able to enroll are doing so, based on the support they get from NGOs.

“There are still many of them that are very qualified for enrollment but are constrained by cash. It is because of this challenge that the NOUN is giving 50 per cent discount to all inmates just to encourage them.

“I want to appeal for support from the general public to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of this category of people in our society.

“This is the only programme for prisons in the whole of Africa, apart from South Africa.”

While delivering his welcome address at the convocation, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Vincent Tenebe, noted that the NOUN had been a significant operator in open and distance education.

He said: “The university will also continue to establish study centres that meet the minimum standards required for establishing study centres for organisations, communities and institutions.”

Tenebe who graduated the first set of students of Law and Mass Communication at the occasion, pleaded with the Federal Government to increase the allocation to the institution to enable it to tackle its various challenges.