BODE

The bus they boarded had slowed to a crawl when they saw him. Bode was rough and lean. His bones were visibly poking out through his skin, a total picture of suffering.

The Marina Exit was crowded with slow-moving cars too, as the man ran beside the moving bus. He had just been released from the Kirikiri prison after 25 years. He had no home, a wife, a child or a job.

Bode had been in jail, forgotten by the same system that put him there. Although he was now a free man, actual freedom was only an idea.

The passengers, each occupied with their daily schedules, listened passively to the plea for help. Compassion for Bode's situation may have struck a code in their hearts, but none could actually help the man in the true sense that he needed. The system had committed no resources to engage him and the others who had just been set free.

Traffic began to pick up pace, and Bode still ran, besides the bus, breathless by this time, begging for a little bit to buy food.

The psychological trauma and physical toll of prison had left him confused and hopeless. Bode, was a stark reminder that the so-called Nigerian reform system has failed in the objective that it was created to address.

And as consequence, a fresh set of convicts, for whatever crime they may have committed or did not, as is the case for a large number of them, had just been released onto the already crowded streets of Lagos.