The purpose of this book is to address the issue of reforming convicts in Nigeria prison so that one day when they finish their sentence; they can become productive member of the community. Some couple of years ago, I was convicted of a crime outside the shore of Nigeria and I was sentence but during that time; I reflected on my life and promised myself that I will contribute to the rehabitation of inmate in Nigeria. It is an honour to be able to go into the prison and speak to convicted inmates about changing their lives around so that they could become productive members of the community when they finish their sentence and this is what I do through my NGO.

Reform : perspectives, possibilities and alternatives.

A pioneering book on prisons in West Africa, Colonial Systems of Control: Criminal Justice in Nigeria is the first comprehensive presentation of life inside a West African prison. Chapters by prisoners inside Kirikiri maximum security prison in Lagos, Nigeria are published alongside chapters by scholars and activists. While prisoners document the daily realities and struggles of life inside a Nigerian prison, scholar and human rights activist Viviane Saleh-Hanna provides historical, political, and academic contexts and analyses of the penal system in Nigeria. The European penal models and institutions imported to Nigeria during colonialism are exposed as intrinsically incoherent with the community-based conflict-resolution principles of most African social structures and justice models. This book presents the realities of imprisonment in Nigeria while contextualizing the colonial legacies that have resulted in the inhumane brutalities that are endured on a daily basis. Keywords: Nigeria, West Africa, penal system, maximum-security prison. Published in English.