Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has declared the readiness of his administration to turn the old Ado-Ekiti prison into a befitting tourist centre.
The governor disclosed this on Thursday during a visit to the old prison complex located in Fajuyi Area of the state capital. Fayemi explained that his administration contributed immensely to the relocation of prison to a more conducive environment to support the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) tackle the challenges of maintaining the old facility in the centre of the town.
He revealed that as soon as the old prison is completely evacuated, government would commence the process of establishing a civic centre that will incorporate a museum, an amphitheatre, cinemas, shopping mall, and an event centre.
Fayemi said turning the site of the old prison into an ultramodern event centre would add beauty and life to the Ado-Ekiti Central Business District. The governor said,
“Even though the prison has been relocated, we feel that there are artifacts relating to this (old) prison that must be kept for generations yet unborn so that they will know that at some point in history, the colonial prison was set up right there.
“If you go to any place, you will always see the prison near the divisional office of the colonial police, so it’s a symbol of control over security and safety of its people. For us we believe that the best thing we can put here in order to realize our objectives of building a large community is a civic centre that also incorporates some historical links and lots of mementoes about Ekiti people in general.
Once the place is fully evacuated, government is ready to roll in and start the process of establishing a civic centre that will have a shopping mall, cinemas, an amphitheatre, a museum as well as an event centre in this location that has become a central business district of our distinguished capital city.”
The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe commended Fayemi for his role in ensuring the relocation of the prison to the new site. According to the royal father, the governor committed enormous resources to the project and made contacts with the federal authorities to ensure its completion.
The monarch expressed satisfaction with the plan of the prison authorities to establish an agric farm in the vicinity of the new prison site to positively engage the inmates and put the large expanse of land into use. The Assistant Controller-General of Prisons in charge of Zone F, Mr. Benjamin Bogunjoko lauded the Ekiti State Government for its support in relocating the prison to the new site which he described as a boost to efforts to make the prison a corrective place and not a punitive one.
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Last modified: February 16, 2012
