BEFORE YOU HELP…………………

In helping others we sometimes find fulfilment, other times we end up being bitter and frustrated
Living the communal life that we have in our society, we are surrounded by people who need our help
People whose bluff we can not call
In fact, we too are caught in the web of asking someone else for assistance
We seek assistance for different issues ranging from accommodation to babysitting
When a distant cousin or an in-law comes to serve in our area under the National Youth Service Corp, our home is automatically the place of abode
Some of us even accommodate people of the same faith, colleagues, friends e.t.c.
Most times when we carry out this act of benevolence we fail to “spell out the terms of residence”
We don’t think of the fact that we are responsible for them once they move in
In the bid to help, we fail to count the cost of having an additional family member, we have forget that our income is still ‘constant’
At the end of the day, we get our fingers burnt, we complain to anyone who care to listen of how the fellow we helped will not help around the house, comes home late, uses milk, toothpaste, water…wastefully
In fact we tell them that this fellow is not searching for his own apartment
Forgetting that at the beginning there were no ground rules, no dos and don’ts, no expiry term for the “residence-hood” (permit me)
Families have been torn apart because of this act of benevolence, some have been given quit notice by their Landlords, while some people have lost their jobs
Please do not get me wrong, it is good to help, in truth there is a reward for helping
But it is also better to sit down and count the cost instead of getting bitter at the end
So I implore you, before you accept to accommodate anyone, lay the rules…… for where there is no law, there is no trespass
Above all ‘think it through ‘

WHO ARE THE CIVILISED?

Have you ever thought about the ones we can regard as the civilized?
Are they the rich, the sophisticated, the well-dressed man with the white-collar job
Or they are the politicians or those in the corridor of power
Can we say the man that takes his family to fast food restaurants is civilized?
May be those who have been to school and now speak Queen’s English
Yes those who have left the shores of their countries for another are the ones
But…………… let’s take time to think
Can a Professor who does not obey traffic light be called Civilised?
Does civility include fighting and hitting others when annoyed?
What about the sophisticated who has no regard for the Rule of Law
Is the Lawyer who litters the road with his used tissue civilized in your opinion
Then there is the rich who tramples on the right of others,
What about the boss who never admits his mistakes
Are all these examples of civilized beings?
So I can say we are having a re-think about the so-called civilized people
Civility starts with us, We all have to work together to achieve a civilized Nation
No jumping of traffic light, Stop indiscriminate refuse disposal
No jumping of queue in the bank, jamb office, petrol station
The next time you do any of these remember you are an illiterate and uncivilised
So I plead with you, obey laws governing our society,
Let us phase out the 10% syndrome, Be courteous to others,
Let accountability start with us, then let’s demand it from our leaders
Remember, someone who never went to school and does these is civilised
As you do all these and many more, I welcome you to the world of the CIVILISED