Turning Prisoners Into Productive Citizens

 In many parts of Africa, Human Resource is never utilised into critical forces of production and yet if harnessed would have transformed their countries from poverty and backwardness to development and modernity. Africa is endowed with abundant natural resources, good weather and a young population, yet the whole continent continues to wallow in abject poverty.

In spite of the fact that most African countries have been independent for more than fifty years, the continent still has most of their young people educated but unemployed and yet this is the critical group that should be building the infrastructure that is missing in their countries and industries manufacturing goods for home use and export.

Fortunately, some countries are waking up to the reality that independence means being self-sustaining and not being dependant on other countries for survival and existence. A classic example we need to talk about as a continent is Burkina Faso under the leadership of Ibrahim Traore. Traore, 37, who has been in power since 2022, found a country that was so poor that it couldn’t feed its citizens and had no critical infrastructure.

But in the last few years of his rule, he has constructed roads, built hospitals, schools, industries and, banished hunger among his people by investing heavily in Agriculture. It is imperative to mention how he is transforming Agriculture for example.

Traore has provided government land to the farmers, seeds, tractors and built processing industries for Agricultural products.In doing so, he has deployed the population into being productive through collective participation. A case in point are prisoners whom he has turned into farmers.

According to “Africa is Powerful”, Under the bold and strategic leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the nation is proving that food sovereignty is not a distant dream, but a reality within reach and while many African countries continue to depend on foreign aid, moving from one international summit to another seeking food assistance, Burkina Faso is charting a new course, one of self-reliance, resilience, and national dignity.

At the heart of this revolution is a decision that shocked many. Prisoners are no longer idled behind bars as they work, farm, and feed the nation. When President Traore declared that Burkina Faso would no longer beg for food, he backed his words with decisive action. One of the most ground-breaking policies introduced under his leadership is the integration of prisoners into the national agricultural workforce.

What was once a burden on the state, the cost of housing and feeding inmates, is now a productive force for national development. Through a well-structured initiative, Burkina Faso’s correctional facilities are being repurposed into centers of agricultural training and food production. Instead of merely punishing offenders, the government is empowering them with skills that will enable them to reintegrate into society as productive citizens.

Africa should be ashamed of importing food from countries that have no land considering how rich it is as a continent. The Land is not only unutilized but also underutilized. The labour force that is employable but is unemployed would be usefully utilized to develop their countries.

Until Africans wake up and realize that the development of the continent can only be successfully done by Africans themselves, Africa shall forever remain dependent on foreign interference, domination and exploitation.

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