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 ‘