The question 'who is my neighbour' goes beyond
the man living next to you in the same compound
or the man living in the compound next to yours.
The term 'neighbour' has attracted explanations
both from the court and the law.
In the bible Jesus said unto a lawyer,'what is
written in the law?'. The young lawyer answered,
'thou shalt love the lord thy God...and thy
neighbour as you love thyself (Luke 10:26-27).
A business man may have just nodded to this and
left, just like we do after sunday preaching. A
doctor may have done the same, as well as an
engineer but the lawyer here certainly did not. In
order to justify himself he asked, "Who is my
neighbour?".
A simple question it appears but this very question
led Jesus into the world of narration and has
exercised the mind of lawyers even after that.
In replying to the question, Jesus told the story of
a man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho who fell
among thieves, was stripped, wounded and left half
dead. In this very street where he lay half dead, a
certain priest passed by him without proffering any
help. A levite ( a person from the priestly tribe of
Levi) passed by and did same. Then came a
Samaritan (the Samaritans and the Jews do not
associate), unlike the priest and levite went to him,
bound up his wound, set him on his beast and
took him to an inn. The next day as he departed,
he gave the host two pence and promised to pay
whatever expenses his further treatment may
incure (Luk 10:30-35).
On completion of the story, Jesus displayed the
'Nigerian man attitude' of answering a question
with a question. He asked the lawyer "which one of
the three do you think is a neighbour to the man?.
He replied,"The man who showed him mercy. To
this reply Jesus approved, commanding him to go
and do same.
A nice narration it is and a beautiful answer. It
clearly portrays the neighbour as one who shows love to another irrespective of tribe or religion. By
picking the Samaritan as the neighbour, then what
are the priest, levite and thieves to the man? What
then happens to the thieves since he has to live
with them in the same society, and from the
narration cannot be deemed to be a neighbour?
The love of the neighbour (Samaritan) came after
he has been hurt, how then do we keep these ones
from injuring him at all?
Possibly these were the thoughts that remained in
the mind of the lawyer and has led to legislative
and judicial measures to define the term
'neighbour'.
Lord Atkins in the celebrated case of Donoghue v
stevenson firmly stamped the position of the law
by giving a reply to the question 'who then is my
neighbour?'. The answer he proffered are 'persons
who are so closely and directly affected by my acts
that I ought reasonably to have them in
contemplation as being so affected when am
directing my mind to the acts or omissions which
are called in question.
This neighbourhood principle of his, has been
incorporated into section 218 of Torts Law of
Enugu State as well as almost all States Torts Law
in Nigeria in practically the same wordings.
Clearly it can be seen that the position of the law
in this regard is that all persons who are
proximately and directly affected by your acts and
omissions are your neighbours not just those who
are in need of help.
The bible does not exclude the robbers, priests and
levites as neighbours but only tries to show the
right attitude to be displayed by a neighbour
which is love.
Marrying the provisions of the law and the bible it
thus follows that loving your neighbour as you
love yourself means avoiding acts/omissions
harmful to others; as well as coming to the aid of
those in need.
The wounded traveller is a neighbour to the
robbers. But the robbers failed to display the right
attitude towards them since they were reasonably
expected to know that such act will negatively
affect them. The law does not force one to be of
help to those in need; neither is a man liable for not turning his home into a place of rest
for travellers. Here the love principle comes into
play. The priests and levites are not by law
compelled to help but this principle places them in
a good position to help the wounded traveller.
Of course neighbours will keep being injured since
there will always exist deviants in the society not
minding the provisions of the law (deviants like the
robbers).in this situation whe have a duty to show
love to such injured ones. The court does the job
of a good Samaritan very well, always helping such
injured ones recover from their injuries by placing
them in a position they would have been had such
act or omission not occurred.
The bible and the law has always been friends.
They have always loved each other. Extend that
same love to your neighbour.
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