RECENTLY, the Governor of Bauchi State, Mallam Isa Yuguda, made an untoward speech about the plight of NYSC members who are serving in his state and those who were cold-bloodedly murdered by a rioting mob over the electoral outcome of the presidential election of April 16, won by incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.Specifically, he was reported to have said, They (corps members) were destined to experience what they experienced. Nobody can run away from destiny. When they were serving me they were the happiest in Nigeria. Immediately I handed them over to INEC, it was the responsibility of INEC to protect them. They were not the only one affected. My house was burnt, they almost lynched my first son. It is part of their destiny. I was also attacked as corps member in Ibadan in 1979.A deeper reflection on his statement would reveal a fatalistic disposition to an otherwise preventable development and again a blatant shirking of responsibility as the Chief Security of Officer of his state. Without doubt, that is the meaning conveyed by his emphasis on destiny and the abdication of responsibility for security of the NYSC members while ceding it to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).Given the tension in the polity and the grief of a nation over the killing of innocent people including corps members who were on patriotic service of their nation in the Northern part of the country, the statement was unkind and unbecoming of a state governor. It was most unfortunate as it provided a morbid dimension to an otherwise serious national tragedy. Although, the governor has denied what he said, it is to us an afterthought. His rebuttal on the issue by restating what he said that was taken out of context only accentuated the original statement. His statement would not help matters; it would accentuate ethnic and religious faultlines in the body politic.Not a few condemned the killing of the corps members when riot broke out in the north over the presidential election outcome. Both local and international bodies as well as individuals have condemned the incident. The leader of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria, Ambassador David MacRae described it as shameful because the country ought to be proud of the dedication of the youth corps members in the service to the country. Nigerias Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, condemned the killings and described the act as pre-meditated. In this regard, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) had volunteered to sue on behalf of the families of the deceased for exemplary damages for the negligence that led to their death. These sundry responses reinforced the weighty nature of the incident.Earlier, we had called for a review of the NYSC scheme. While this is not debatable, however, the point needs to be made in unambiguous terms that corps members sent to states are under the care of the state governments and to that extent the state governors have responsibility for their care. We hope that the likes of Bauchi governor will make their states livable for NYSC members.Also, the point must be made that often public officials in our country display naivety and outright ignorance in responding to weighty national issues. It is a testimonial to the content and character of governance in our country that those saddled with state responsibility hardly appreciate the duty and obligation of the exalted offices they occupy. For example, while corps members were being killed in some parts of the country, the Director-General of the scheme, Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga was engrossed in a game of official denial.On the eve of the National Assembly elections, the INEC office in Suleja, Niger State was rocked by a bomb blast and many corps members were wounded and others died. He denied that any corps members were among the casualties on the National Television Authority network. He was not only booed by the corps members, it led to calls for his resignation by some members of the civil society. Again, while we commiserate with the families of those who lost their lives, we sincerely hope that our country will not be treated to this orgy of violence again and that public officials will be more circumspect in their public utterances.
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