APPLICABILITY AND EXTENT OF NON-CUSTODIAL SENTENCING IN NIGERIA

The contemporary correctional penology system in Nigeria refers to the current framework and practices employed by the Nigerian government to manage and rehabilitate individuals who have been convicted of crimes. The penology system encompasses various institutions and policies aimed at ensuring public safety, punishment, and the reformation of offenders. To understand the contemporary penology system in Nigeria, it is important to consider the historical context. Nigeria's correctional system was originally established under British colonial rule, primarily for the purpose of punishment and confinement rather than rehabilitation. After gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria continued to adopt a punitive approach to criminal justice. The present Nigerian criminal justice system was inherited from the British colonial government. It must, however, be admitted that it served the colonial purpose very well. But with independence, albeit with a succession of military dictatorships, the present hybrid of civilian and democratic rule is completely incompatible with the inherited criminal justice system. This incompatibility has rendered the system dysfunctional and inefficient due to infrastructural deficiency. The correctional institutions are largely undermanned (both in terms of quality and quantity), underfunded and vulnerable to abuse. Some identified problems associated with the administration of justice include, chronic delay in the trial of cases, lack of effective coordination amongst agencies of the criminal justice reform; the police, prison, prosecutors and the courts, absence of clear and consistent sentencing guidelines, growing number of awaiting trial inmates, limited alternatives to imprisonment and dichotomy between Federal and State offences.