When We Were Neighbours: The Golden Era of Community, Unity, and Shared Joy

When We Were Neighbours: The Golden Era of Community, Unity, and Shared Joy

When We Were Neighbours: The Golden Era of Community, Unity, and Shared Joy

In the late 1960s through the early 1980s, Nigerian families experienced a kind of communal upbringing that is rare today. Life was simple but rich in values.

Many families, regardless of social class, raised their children in an environment where the community acted as one extended family. Children grew up not just under the care of their biological parents but also under the watchful, loving eyes of neighbours. A child belonged to everyone.

Television was a luxury not every home could afford, yet it never hindered access to joy. Families – children and adults alike – gathered in homes of the privileged few who owned black-and-white or early colour TV sets to watch programmes like The Village Headmaster, Cockcrow at Dawn, and global events such as the 1969 moon landing or the 1980 African Cup of Nations. These gatherings were more than entertainment – they were acts of love and unity. Truly, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31) was a lived reality, not just a Biblical ideal.

One love, as famously echoed in the homes and embraced in local songs and slogans, kept families and communities tightly knit.

People cooked together, played together, laughed together, and mourned together. Disputes were resolved by elders with wisdom, and children learned morals through storytelling, discipline, and communal guidance.

Today, fences have replaced front porches, suspicion has overshadowed trust, and screens separate us more than they unite. What happened to us is a question that pierces the heart. The erosion of values, the rise of individualism, and socio-economic inequality have broken down the walls of community.

Yet, hope is not lost. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). We can rebuild – by teaching our children compassion, by rekindling communal trust, and by choosing love over fear.

The dream of a united Nigeria, where we can eat, play, and reason together again, is not dead. We must be intentional about returning to the core values that once defined us.

May God heal our land and restore us – “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity” (Psalm 133:1).

Yes, Nigeria can smile again. It begins with you and me.