He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
King James Bible
I John 4:7-8
The neighbour principle was propounded by LORD ATKIN in the celebrated case of Donoghue v. Stephenson and it forms the basis of "duty of care" in the all important tort of negligence.
The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbour. Who then is my neighbour; "the answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by my acts that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplations as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question".
Negligence has been defined as failure to exercise due care resulting in injury to another. The failure to exercise due care may be the omission to perform an act that a reasonable person, guided by those circumstances that normally regulate the conduct of individuals, would perform, or it may be the commission of an act that a reasonable person would not commit, or would perform in a more careful manner with due regard for the safety of others.
Without the slightest prompting of law enforcement, every person is expected to know naturally that he owes every other individual proximate to him at any given time the "duty of care" under every given circumstance.
What legal pundits have termed "duty of care" is what every religion the world over preach, love and the ability to coexist peacefully. The ability to put reason above passion and temperance over both, the ability to see ourselves as one world and not races, tribes and religions. This is true unity in diversity; this is the sheer call of God and humanity. It is also the lesson of the Good Samaritan.
The recent crises/ blood bath in Jos, where in all over a thousand human lives have been lost leaves a lot to be desired in any developed community of humans. It further emphasises the fact that both the government and the people of Nigeria lack the fundamental regard for human life.
Continually attributing our failings to faceless cabals and "above the law" individuals is reminiscence of the tale of mr nobody popular among children. If after fifty years of independence, we can not hold people responsible for such heinous crimes as genocide then what is the future of our amalgamation? After all the most important of all fundamental human rights is the "right to life" as provided in section 33 of our constitution that "Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life".
The constitution further provides in section 24(c), that it shall be the duty of every individual to respect the dignity of other citizens and the rights and legitimate interests of others and live in unity and harmony and in the spirit of common brotherhood.
In his letter to Letter to Sir Horace Mann, Horace Walpole (1717 - 1797) A British writer, asked a reverberating question "WHEN WILL THE WORLD KNOW THAT PEACE AND PROPAGATION ARE THE TWO MOST DELIGHTFUL THINGS IN IT?" this is the question that we as a people should ask ourselves today and at all times. We must learn to treat our neighbours with as much dignity and care as we would ourselves. We owe each other a duty of care…Peace is a cherish-able state that must be coveted in every way possible as Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous.
God bless our unity and faith, God bless the federal republic of Nigeria.
VOX POPULI; VOX DEI
No comments:
Post a Comment