The Two Neighbours and the Broken Wall

There were two neighbours who lived beside each other.One was Kunle. The other was Tunde.They had lived next to each other for years. They greeted each other every morning. Sometimes Kunle borrowed salt from Tunde, and sometimes Tunde knocked on Kunle's door when he needed a tool. They were not best friends, but they had no serious problem with each other.Until the wall fell.The wall stood between their compounds. It had been there for many years, and the rain had already weakened it. One afternoon, heavy rain came down.By the next morning, part of the wall had collapsed.Kunle stepped outside, looked at the fallen bricks and called Tunde. “Tunde! Come and see this wall.” Tunde came out.He looked at the wall for a few seconds.“Your side caused this.” Kunle looked at him.“My side?” “Yes. You always pour water around here when you wash your compound.”Kunle shook his head. “And what about that tree you planted beside the wall? The roots have been pushing against it.” Tunde pointed at the wall. “Then you should repair your own side.” Kunle laughed. “My own side?” “Yes.” “Fine. Repair yours too.” And that was how the argument started. Neither of them wanted to fix the wall. Kunle said Tunde should repair it. Tunde said Kunle should repair it. Every time they met, they returned to the same argument. “Have you fixed the wall?” “Is it my wall?” “You damaged it.” “You also contributed to the damage.” One day, an old man who lived nearby heard them arguing.“You two should just fix this wall,” he said. Kunle turned to him.“Baba, tell him.” Tunde also turned to the old man.“Tell him to fix his side.” The old man looked at both of them, shook his head and walked away.Weeks passed.The wall remained broken. Then one night, thieves entered through the opening.They took some bags of rice from Kunle's store and farming tools from Tunde's shed. The next morning, Kunle ran to Tunde's house.“They entered through the wall!” Tunde looked at him.“Our wall.” Kunle stopped.Neither of them argued this time.They both knew what had happened. The same wall they had spent weeks arguing about had given the thieves an easy way into both compounds. That afternoon, Kunle brought bricks.Tunde brought cement.They worked together. Kunle carried the bricks while Tunde mixed the cement. After some time, they switched.Nobody asked who caused the damage.Nobody asked who should pay.They just fixed the wall. As they worked, Kunle looked at Tunde and laughed.“You know we could have done this since.”Tunde smiled.“Yes. But we were too busy trying to prove who was right.” By evening, the wall stood again.The wall was not the only thing they fixed that day.They also fixed something between themselves. Sometimes, we do the same thing.We have a problem with someone, and instead of looking for a solution, we spend all our energy trying to prove that we are right.We keep asking, “Whose fault is it?” Meanwhile, the problem keeps growing.Sometimes, being right is not enough.Sometimes, somebody has to take the first step and fix the wall. lesson: Pride can turn a small disagreement into a much bigger problem. When people focus only on blame, they may overlook the solution that benefits everyone.

Other insights from Quareeb Jagun

Contributor Points

Points-to-Coupons

Referral Earning