Nigerian president 'returns' to prison

President Obasanjo: Unscheduled visit to Yola prison

By Mannir Dan Ali in Lagos

It was a homecoming of sorts for Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo when he paid a surprise visit to Yola prison in eastern Nigeria on Thursday.

For it was not just one of those visits that presidents undertake in the line of duty.

This is my room and I will never forget it

President Obasanjo

Yola prison was President Obasanjo's address for three years, after he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for plotting to overthrow the government of the late military ruler General Sani Abacha.

And he was only released after the death of General Abacha in June 1998.

Te president then went on to contest and win democratic elections in February the following year.

Spiritual experience

And it was in this prison, that Mr Obasanjo underwent a spiritual rebirth - becoming a hard hitting preacher to other prisoners.

Now at the head of government, many say that this period of his life was responsible for the messianic zeal he now shows in trying to tackle the many problems confronting the country he is governing for the second time within 20 years.

Ecstatic prisoners and warders lined up to welcome Mr Obasanjo as one of their own, as he arrived to be greeted by singing and dances.

Reports say there was a lot of laughter as the president went round the prison, which he noted had improved since he left in 1998.

Mr Obasanjo recognised many of the prisoners and called them by name.

'My room'

There was an emotional moment when he stepped into his former cell followed by a retinue of top government officials.

''This is my room and I will never forget it,'' the president was quoted as saying.

Outside his cell, the prisoners told Mr Obasanjo that they were no longer chained as was the practice when he was an inmate.

He promised to look into requests for pardons by former prison mates who say they have now reformed.

Prison problem

With the onset of democratic rule all political prisoners of the infamous Abacha era were released and to President Obasanjo's credit there are now no known political prisoners in the country.

The prison visit was not part of the official schedule of the president's two-day visit to Adamawa State.

In the past few months he has been touring different regions to commission projects and listen to local grievances.

For the inmates of Yola and other prisons in Nigeria, Mr Obasanjo's visit may have put them in the limelight and reminded him of the appalling conditions in the country's prisons which are in need of urgent reform.

Non governmental organisations concerned with the welfare of prisoners have often said that most of Nigeria's prisons are overcrowded and privde inadequate food and healthcare for inmates.