My neighbour's generator is now a court exhibit

See ehn, I dey tell you, some matters don't even need to reach my desk but they always do. My neighbour, the one with the 10KVA generator that runs from 6am to 10pm daily, decided to take me to small claims court last week. He said I complained too much about the noise. Can you imagine? The man brought his generator manual as evidence, claiming it's a 'quiet model' approved by SON.

I showed up in my own court on my off day, just to see how this would go. The magistrate, a young lady I trained about eight years ago, looked at the manual, looked at my neighbour, and asked him one question. 'Oga, if this generator is quiet, why do you have to raise your voice when it's running?' The whole courtroom scattered. Case dismissed with a warning about the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency noise regulations. Section 177 of the Criminal Code, nuisance to neighbours.

My neighbour came to my house last night with palm wine. Said he didn't know the law was that serious. I told him, the law is always serious, but most people only find out when it lands on their doorstep.