Imprisoned for many years and later released, the story of Bishop Kayode Williams, General Overseer of Christ Vessel of Grace Church International, is a study on the extent of how much God can transform a man. He was also a member of the committee on prison reforms set up by the Federal Government. In this interview with KEHINDE OYETIMI, he speaks on why crime is attractive, the state of Nigeria’s prisons and his position on death penalty. Excerpts:
If you were told some years ago that you would clock 60, after going through the four walls of a prison, what would you have said?
Sentencing me to ten years imprisonment was the worst thing that ever happened to me. It was as though the world had come to an end. I was under 20 years when my sentence was handed down to me. The judge felt that sentencing me to such number of years would have amounted to my reformation. I never believed that I could survive ten years in the prison.
When I came out, I was just under 30. I never believed that I could have lasted without going back to crime. Many things were going through my mind. I doubted so many things. The world made no meaning to me. I felt that things would never make meaning to me again. It was that bad. I have come to fully realise that God has been very good to me.
The situation was very bad in the prisons. It was so dehumanising and pathetic. There was no hope that I would come out.
How do you feel when you see people who are not imprisoned complain that life is not fair to them?
They are fortunate, really fortunate. For those in the prison, life is very bleak and unpredictable. With each passing day, their hope for release diminishes. It is terribly horrible in Nigerian prisons. Any man that is free and complains that life is unfair, then such people should know that they have not seen the worst. The prison is another country within a country. A prisoner cannot claim to be a part of the larger society because he is within the four walls of another place. It is the height of dehumanization. God never made a man not to have freedom. That is what distinguishes living organisms against non-living. It inhibits liberty.
Imprisonment is like excommunicating one from the living and at the same time not to be with the dead.
It is also true that there are some people who live outside but with the mentality of a prisoner. They have the consciousness of imprisonment. The best that one can think of and pray for is that God should direct one’s life and guide one’s engagements.
You were once into crime and were arrested. Do you think that the reasons given by criminals are tenable when they are caught? Some accuse the society, others accuse the devil. What is your reaction to this?
From my own understanding, it is possible that lack of the necessities of life can drive people into crime. But it is not enough. There are people who within the same condition refused to see crime as an option. There are so many jobless graduates who have continued to maintain their integrity. I believe so much that there is a spiritual aspect to crime. It is the devil that drives people into this. But a person who is willing to refute such attraction should be saluted. It is not easy for so many people within the Nigerian context to refuse going into crime. But again, there is no excuse for crime.
The gap between the rich and the poor gets wider each day. The economic situation is very threatening. Are these not enough factors to encourage crime?
What you have just said is a completely different point. When a government fails to meet the needs of its citizens, crime will soar. Lack of welfarism is one of the key factors. You will be amazed at the sophistication with which kidnapping, terrorism and the likes are handled. These things would not have come up if the people have been encouraged by the government. Crime will be limited if the government can provide the basic aspirations of its citizens. Unemployment is on the rise. You will be embarrassed by the ostentatious life that our leaders and politicians lead.
In those days when we were much younger, we had the rich, the middle class and the poor. Even the poor could still take care of themselves. It was not this bad.
But today, the middle class has been completely erased. It is either you have the super rich or the miserably poor. Lack of employment is resulting into the high rate of crime. Many years ago, as a graduate, you would have a reason to live. Nowadays, even if you work hard for many years, you will not have a car of your own talk less of a person with no job. Our situation does not encourage people to aspire. A person told me that he had graduated 11 years ago but still with no job.
You were in prison for six years four months. How will you describe life in Nigerian prisons and what do you think is responsible for government’s inability to reform the prisons?
Life in Nigerian prisons is horrible. It is dehumanizing. There is no reformation whatsoever in Nigerian prisons. There is no structure for rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement. There are tailoring, carpentry and other workshops there but they are not functional. There are only few prisons that have the semblance of working. It is all hypocrisy. There are over 200 prisons in Nigeria but how many of them have workshops? How many of them have factories? In advanced countries, many of the products sold in the cities are produced in their prisons.
In Thailand, all the uniforms that the police, army and other security outfits use are produced in the prisons. But what do the Nigerian prisons produce? I was a member of the federal government committee on prison reform. I have travelled to see both Nigerian prisons and that of other countries. There is nothing reformatory about our prisons. What kind of beds do the convicts sleep on? When I was in the prison, we slept on bare floor. Some of us were able to buy our way so as to get minimal comfort. That is what happens there. There is corruption outside and inside. The only way to know if a country is civilised is to find out its prison system.
As far as prison reform is concerned, we are not yet there. There is no difference between the life of the common man and that of the prisoner in Nigeria. Go to many places and see the kind of life they lead. The government is not feeling this.
Recent happenings show that Nigeria is very unwilling to change its law concerning death penalty. But again the level of terror attacks supports those who clamour for this. What is your take on this?
Death penalty is not the answer. Punishment should be a deterrent and not to snuff life out of the offender. Has death sentence curbed crime? How many people have been killed in the past? Despite the death killings, crime keeps escalating. Let us see if we can reform this people. Look at the progress that has been made by countries that have abolished death penalty. It is not the best to keep death penalty in our constitution.
Culled From Sunday Tribune
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