The Controller General, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Mr Ja’afaru Ahmed, says the service is set to train inmates on shoes, garments and leather works.

Mr. Chuks Njoku, spokesman of the  Service, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeira (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to the statement, the Controller General said at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by NCoS with a private entrepreneur that the training would be on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

He said the first phase of the engagement would be the shoe and garment factory at Aba Custodial Centre and the Leather Factory at Janguza Custodial Centre, Kano State.

Ahmed said the benefit of the arrangement included skills acquisition by the inmates, which would enhance their employability when they are discharged.

“It will also increase the internally generated revenue of the Service and enhance self-sustainability in the provision of staff uniforms and foot wears as well as inmates’ uniforms and beddings,” he said.

Ahmed used the opportunity to solicit the support and patronage of members of the public of the goods produced by inmates in order to create a sense of self-worth in the offenders.

NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 gave a directive that all military and para-military agencies should resort to purely local sourcing of their uniforms and foot wears.

This laudable initiative was borne out of the need to generate employment for Nigerians, conserve foreign exchange, utilise local raw materials and generate other value added services in the chain of production. (NAN)