Chidinma’s Day Of Honour: How Aregbesola Is Reforming A Suspect Without Conviction With Trophy—Adewale Adeoye

<h4>Chidinma&&num;8217&semi;s Day Of Honour&colon; How Aregbesola Is Reforming A Suspect Without Conviction With Trophy<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>The 2022 World Women&&num;8217&semi;s Day celebrations took different dimension at Nigeria&&num;8217&semi; Kirikiri maximum prison when Miss Chidinma Ojukwu&comma; the prime suspect in the murder of a media entrepreneur and founder of Super TV&comma; Ataga Osifo&comma; emerged as 2022 Miss Cell in a beauty pageant which was said to have been keenly contested among inmates&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Nigerians who were alarmed by this development raised a number of questions&comma; challenging Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola&comma; the Minister of Interior to explain why a murder suspect who has not been convicted be reformed through a widely publicized pageantry that clearly offends the sensibilities of humanity as well as the family of the late TV owner&period; In this piece obtained by OpenLife&comma; Adewale Adeoye interrogates the development&comma; saying rather than Chidiima having her day of sober reflection&comma; she is being honoured with trophy which may qualify her to represent Nigeria in international beauty contest sooner than expected&period; Adeoye&&num;8217&semi;s piece is reproduced below unedited<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>We have read about Chidinma winning a laurel while in the custody of the Nigerian prisons&period; She was even decorated and honoured by the Nigerian Prisons putting her in a special place among suspected criminals&period; A suspect murderer has been honoured and revered by Nigerian Prisons&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>She did not contest in her University examination nor in a quiz for moral rejuvenation&period; She contested in an entirely different realm&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>It is unfortunate that in Nigeria&comma; people of questionable moral height are taking over the space&period; The other day&comma; I watched a Senator in a pornographic dance&period; He wants to be the next Governor in Osun state&period; Osun is hub of Yoruba moral&comma; spiritual and political authority&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>I think the Chidinma case is extremely in bad taste&period; She is standing trial for murder and even manslaughter&period; She was said to have stabbed her friend&comma; a TV owner Ataga Osifo&period; The man died&period; The law says murderers or suspected criminals should have their days of justice not their days of honour even while trial persists&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>In series of TV chats&comma; she narrated how she stabbed this man to death&period; Now&comma; the Nigerian Prison authority is parading her with moral apparel&comma; a trophy and ethical medal while the trial is on-going&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>I think inmates on trial should not have been allowed to participate in an event that will increase the tempo of public perception of a suspect&&num;8217&semi;s moral low or high&comma; otherwise a suspect can be asked to seek electoral position and what happens if he wins the election into an office that requires immunity from prosecution&quest;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>While prisons are also aimed to reform inmates&comma; it should not be an institution to uplift suspected criminals above their demonstrated moral standards or values&period; Prisons should not conceive of reforming a suspect that has not been convicted&period; That is jumping the gun&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Knowing this country&comma; her winning that contest may have been orchestrated by a nest of rogues to divert public attention from the blood of a man&comma; a father hanging on her two shoulders&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>The next time she comes to court&comma; the prisons want Nigerians and even the judges to see her as a special person that probably occupies an important cultural position who should be protected by the State and viewed from the prism of honour by Nigerians in the gallery&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>The Minister of Interior&comma; Comrade Aregbesola&comma; should investigate the network behind what looks like a beautifully designed scam to pervert the course of justice<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;