As part of activities to assist Micro, Small Medium Entreprenurs, MSMEs, and giving hope to the incarcerated, and often rejectd stigmatised inmates and ex-mates, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, has empowered inmates in the country with entrpreneurial skills.

The programme, also referred to as the Onesimus Project, is an initiative of the Prison Fellowship of Nigeria in collaboration with the Nigerian Prisons, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.

The event was the second graduation and third matriculation ceremony of inmates, who had undergone spiritual counselling, entrepreneurial training and psycho-analytical counselling.

The Executive Director of the PFN, Mr. Benson Iwuagwu, who explained the purpose of the project, said it was established to serve as a bearer of transformation and restoration.

He said the project would “give hope to the incarcerated, dejected and often rejected, stigmatised and dehumanised inmates and ex-inmates of prisons.”

Iwuagwu noteded that, “the project is to reform, rehabilitate and re-integrate the near-broken products of our excruciating and castrating criminal justice system. It is not just concerned with giving hope to the inmates but also to campaign for a safe and receptive society for their re-entry.”

The PFN diretor said the spiritual aspect of the programme was handled by the PFN, while SMEDAN handled the skill acquisition part, saying that the psycho-analytical evaluation and counselling of the inmates were done by the university’s counselling centre.