SOME say that not everything that is counted that counts, but the it may be important to count how Governor Isa Yuguda has tempered his stand on the 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps killed in election-related crisis in Bauchi State.

His change of attitude counts more than the compensation that he offered the families of the dead.

The Bauchi State Government is offering scholarships to two relations of each of the NYSC members from secondary school to a university of their choice in Nigeria.

In addition handed a N2 million to each of the 10 families through the NYSC director in the State. The state government also offered three persons from the families places for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Mecca.

These ameliorating positions are a clear departure from the earlier days of the crisis when the government was defensive.

No compensation, including the N5 million from the Federal Government, and offer of federal employments to two relations of the deceased, would be adequate for the lost lives. What rattled most Nigerians was the initial insensitivity with which the authorities handled the matter.

Yuguda in a few important words accepted responsibility for the security of everyone within Bauchi State. This may be a constitutional matter that is impractical with a governor being in-charge of security agencies, but it does not instantly erase the liability of governor for the security of people in the State.

“When I was elected as governor of the State, I took an oath that I will protect lives and property in the State. If I have failed in this responsibility, when I am in my grave, Allah will ask me of the lives that were lost during my leadership, without due process of the law and that is why I always weep when I hear that a life is lost as a result of crisis,” Yuguda said.

Bauchi State has made a strong statement about responsibility and it should be acknowledged and respected. Someone must take responsibility for things that happen around us.

It is heart-warming too to note that people so highly placed remember the Almighty and have convictions that they would account for their actions to a higher authority above human influence.

Authority goes with responsibility. When Nigerians suffer some deprivation, someone must be responsible and accept the responsibility by making amends. If a policeman kills someone extra judicially, there must be compensation, apart from prosecution of the killer. These measures would restore a modicum of order to a society that descends to lawlessness with rapacious rapidity.

“Security agencies have arrested over 600 perpetrators of this dastardly act including the suspected killers of the corps members and other citizens of the State,” the governor said about an aspect of managing the crisis that the public has viewed with suspicion.

Early prosecution of the suspects is important, for the defence of their rights, and for punishment of perpetrators of the crisis. Impunity, often promised by sponsors of crisis, is a critical incentive in recruiting gullible executioners into it.

We hope others in authority understand the message about responsibility, according to Yuguda.