SMEDAN, Others Seek Better Deal For Prisoners

THE Director General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, Alhaji Mohammed Nadada Umar, has reiterated the agency’s commitment to the rehabilitation and restoration of special groups such as the vulnerable, prison inmates and those living with HIV/AIDs, including Nigerian returnees from different parts of the world.

He made this known during the week at the second graduation and third matriculation of the Life Recovery Pre-release Empowerment Programme, known as Onesimus Project, organised by the Prison Fellowship of Nigeria, Nigeria Prisons Service, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and Covenant University, at the Medium Security Prison Kirikiri, Lagos.

Umar, who was represented by Levi Anyikwa, said: “the partnership of the four bodies started about three years ago, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2009, which stated responsibilities of the partners in the Onesimus Project. The responsibility of SMEDAN in the Onesimus project is to deliver business development service or what we call entrepreneurialship training to the prison inmates who are about to be released.”