The present maze of security
challenges that is bedeviling the country has brought to the fore a
re-assessment of some tenets and chequered value system that were the hallmark
of the society in the years past.
Although, there were and still are several moral tenets and
norms in the society where a neighbour could easily ask a stranger or any body
for that matter mostly in local parlance by saying:
‘Where you dey
go’‘Wetin una dey look for’‘where una come from’‘Wetin you dey do for here’
and the list is endless.
These were questions that were common place on the lips of
neighbours in the days where you could sleep in the veranda of your house
during a heat wave without fear of anything or even raise the curtains and open
the windows of your room. And it was also the days were hedges of flowers were the
fences you find in the front of different houses. But unfortunately, those days
have long gone.
The present state of things has made many to go inside their
shells because of fear of the unknown.
The question then is, in the present day Nigeria, who
then is a neighbour?
From a biblical perspective, in the book of Luke 10:29-37
A lawyer asked Jesus Christ the same question. Speaking
through a story Jesus answered thus:
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my
neighbour?
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of
his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest
that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the
place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came
where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
And went to him, and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an
inn, and took care of him.
And on the morrow when he departed, he took
out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him;
and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was
neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then
said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
This bible scenario as depicted by Jesus’ encounter with the
said lawyer plays out on a daily basis in every nook and corner of the Nigerian
society in different situations. It was easy to identify who the true neighbour
was in that bible story.
However, in the Nigerian context today, the very fact that
the fabric of the society has changed, the concept of what constitute a neighbour
has completely been redefined. Many see things through their own eyes and not
through the eye of others. And, as a result as humans we see things as we are
from where we are. As such, to many, a neighbour is one who minds is own
business and will not mingle in the affairs of others be it good or bad.
The reason for this kind of disposition is not far fetched.
How do you reconcile these scenarios with the issue of who truly is a
neighbour.
Firstly, a motorist who aids a gun shot victim involved in a
robbery incident ends up being arrested by the police as a suspect in the
robbery incident. Such a person ends up posting bail with a huge amount of money
on the ground of trying to be a good and moral person.
A person who gives information and intelligence report to
security agents ends up being revealed as the source of such information through
the connivance of the same security agents, and the person ends up being made a
scapegoat by men of the underworld.
A man traveling on the highway noticed a supposed pregnant
woman on the side of the road who pretends to be in labour pains, but as it
turns out, she was a part of a robbery gang plotting for a victim that would
fall into their trap.
A whistle blower who reveals the menace of under hand
dealings in an office ends up being relieved of is appointment.
A mechanic who tried to mediate and separate two warring
parties on the grounds that one of them is his house mate eventually ends up
being arrested by the police at the scene of the fighting after others had fled
the place and left behind a bag that contained fire arms. He is still
languishing in prison.
A prominent person who is a philanthropist ends up being
kidnapped without recourse to is acts of kindness.
And to a person who gives a lift to others and ends up
falling victim of arm robbery attack through the antics of those being helped.
The list of scenarios is endless.
To those who have been victims of such real life scenarios, in
the long run being a neighbour means staying on your own and not getting involved
in the affairs or activities of others. To them, it is a case of once beaten,
twice shy.
It is often common place to hear third parties say in local
parlance especially when a person who tried to lend a helping hand ends up
being a victim to those being helped.
You often hear words like: ‘ na over sabi dey worry am, wetin make am no mind in own business’
another could be ‘others no pass the same road, why ebi say na only he wan come
stop. Too know na worry am’ the bashing usually goes on for a while as most
would refuse to see reason with the person who tried to be of help to a fallen
comrade.
The situation is made worse with the present state of
security challenges facing the country. This has caused many to completely re
define who a neighbour is not minding what the Holy book says.
These are antitheses of what Nigeria has turned into. And who
would blame those who have stayed away from being of help to others because of
what they have experienced in the past.
Despite this, many have defiled the odds
to continue to be agents of change in a challenging society as ours. Many Nigerians
still go to appreciable length to give a befitting meaning to the word
neighbour.
