A Cage Or Freedom!!!
Yesterday, I came across a tweet made by a pro bono lawyer who specialized in freeing prisoners who had been incarcerated for offences they didn’t commit, or that they knew nothing about. In the tweet, she stressed the fact of how many innocents are actually languishing in the Nigerian prison system, how many have been there for years, with no hope of ever getting out.
The thing is, in their search to free as many innocents as possible, there were many of them who refused their help. As in, even though they’re in prison unjustly, they still don’t want to be released. They have no idea what they’re coming back into, and they’re fighting it. And even worse, there is a system in there that takes care of them in there. They’re fed (even though the meals are something to talk about), they don’t pay rent, and they sure as hell don’t have bills to pay.
So, for this reason, many of them prefer not to come out. This might seem like a petty reason to you, but to people who have spent the majority of their formative and active years on the inside, and then are suddenly thrust back into the world with no form of balance. The minute they get out, if they have no family or friend to help out, they’d have to live somewhere, they’d have to eat something. And these things cost money. How will they get such money especially with the stigma that’s associated with ex-convicts?
Honestly, all this just goes to show how bad our country is. For someone to be willing to be locked up unjustly than face freedom, it’s a scary peek into how bleak society is. It’s as if when they’re locked up, they matter, and when they’re free, they’re invisible and no one cares if they eat or die. At least in the prison they get healthcare, skill acquisition, and some form of structure.
I’m not saying that’s a better place to be, I’m just trying to paint how bad society is for innocent inmates to prefer a cage to freedom. And when you think about it, you just have to wonder, is this really all there is to life? Would we simply be running around, working our butts off as we try to pay off bills? First we pay our bills, then we pay the bills for ourselves and our partners. Then we pay the bills for ourselves, our partners and our children.
On and on it goes, it doesn’t end up until we draw our last breath. Because with the kind of grip money has on us, without it, you’re invisible and no one cares. If you can’t pay your bills, no one would give you the time of day. You could fade away and no one would care. And still, we work ourselves to the bone, trying to fix our problems and it’s like it’s never enough.
It feels like there should be more to life, there should be so much more to life than this constant chase for money, this constant need to pay bills and settle debts. It feels like there should be more, we know there should be more. Hell, we believe there should be more. But we just never see it. It’s like that mischievous child, hiding just around the corner, that when you think you’ve caught them, they’re further down, laughing at you just around yet another corner.
When will life become more than just a cycle of paying bills? When will we be seen and just live for the sake of it? This time, it’s not just a ‘Nigeria’ issue, it’s more of a global thing. Because we should be ashamed as a people if innocent inmates would rather live in a cage than come back into society.
This is a mess-up, big time!
Hmmm! I see the reason why some of them refused to be freed. But it is still better for me that I hustle, make legit money and pay all the bills in the world than remain back there in prison. For me that is how I see it.
Thanks for sharing
Omo... if they have nowhere to go and no safety net to catch them, it might be easier to understand their plight. It's just a sad reality.
It's because they know life outside of prison will not be less than hell if they come outside of prison. Dealing with society, accommodation and food is not so easy. Compared to that the life in prison is not bad.
As in... the difference between freedom and a cage is just money. MONEY!!!
This is what humanity has been reduced to. The endless search of money, and when the absence of it makes one invisible.