WHAT HAPPENED TO NEIGHBOURLY LOVE?

  I remember when we were growing up, neighbours were more friendly and positively involved in each others well being. When parents were not home neighbours would look after their kids until they returned. There were times when one would do some stupid things under the cover of my parents are not around and when they came back they still surprising heard about it. I remember auntie Rhonda our next door neighbour who would always says "now your parents are not around and you people are misbehaving. If they were around would you do something like this?". She was always there to the extent we called her monitoring spirit.


   Then neighbours would help each others out with some little things like looking after the kids when they close from school until their parents returned from work, help you remove your clothes from the line when it wants to rain, help you make sure your house is safe when you are not around, report strange happenings during your absence and sometimes even go as far as helping each other out financially, with chores in times of a new delivery or sickness. Parents would even travel for varying distance and periods of time leaving their kids under the watch of neighbours. Where did that love and cooperation go? What happened to being our brothers keeper?

  I know people will say 'abeg leave me to mind my own business' and things like that but do you actually know that minding your own business sometimes  causes more harm than good? Simple rule of life is nobody comes to your aid when you isolate yourself. A lot of things could have been avoided if we had shown some neighbourly love.

  That man that screamed for help because robbers where at his house, who you ignored choosing instead to gather your family together in a room and closing all your doors and windows? Well the robbery would have been foiled if you had added your voice to his raised alarm, an army could have been raised and the robbers would have been over powered. You think that's too risky cause you have your own family to protect? Well then try to make some calls to the proper authorities instead of sitting in your house like a helpless chicken waiting for your turn and praying it doesn't come.

  That house or store that burnt to the ground would not have been totally successful if you had volunteered and added a bucket of water to the fire or help chart out some properties from the building.

  That girl that was raped wouldn't have been if you had reacted to her ear piercing, soul wrecking scream. But you said it wasn't your concern, so you continued on your way home.

  I remember Adah who packed his keke napep in his compound only to return to find it missing. His neighbours claimed they didn't see anything and just like that he never found it.

  For a more secured neighborhood, community and country we need to have neighbourly love which would move us to help our neighbours out genuinely. Then they too will help us when we need help.

  I know that there is a need to be cautious because of the wicked heart of men but we all should try to live in peace and have cordial relationship with our neighbours. The benefits are enormous from a human standpoint and from Gods stand point too.