One major form of accommodation available to Nigerians is what we call a
compound house (face me i face you) which is mostly made up of a couple of single rooms or chamber and hall apartments on the same compound.

This kind of apartments are mostly walled and gated but there are some which are not
walled but the apartments are built in a way that they form some enclosure for the
compound.
Compound houses normally have shared washrooms but there are times when some apartments are built in what we call the self-
contain mode which gives them their own toilets.
Sweeping of the compound plus scrubbing of the bathroom and toilet are mostly shared between tenants. So on a particular day when it gets to a particular tenants turn, he/she will perform that duty.
There are struggles with compound houses and one major one is in-fighting between
tenants. This can be due to a lot of issues but I’ll like to help you so you can avoid the fights by giving you some pointers to promote peaceful coexistence between you
and your co-tenants.

1. Don’t Get Too Close To One Tenant
As humans, we tend to bend towards certain people than others and that’s human
nature. In a compound house with many tenants, one will obviously get close to some. This causes a lot of issues since other tenants always have the notion that you and your friend (co-tenant) are talking about them. They also feel they are not good enough to be your friends since you chose
just one person out of everyone to be close to. This can lead to quarrels between them and you or your friend at the least
opportunity.
To avoid this, try to be friendly
to everyone. Don’t spend too much time with one tenant chit chatting away from the rest. It helps a lot.

2. Greet And Go

In a compound house, once you stand somewhere with another tenant, it’s assumed that you’re talking about other tenants. Other times too some tenants will
engage you in conversations and later turn it around, creating problems for you. To be on the safer side, greet and move on. You are in the house for your peace so greet when you need to and move on either to your room or outside if you’re going out.
Avoid one-on-one conversations with other tenants.

3. Respect All Equally

You’ll be calling for trouble if you begin according some tenants respect over others.
Everyone in the house is the same
irrespective of whether they’ve been there for years or months. Treat everyone the same way and you’ll not have any issues.
There are times some people are tempted to accord some tenants a lot of respect just because they have been in the house for a
long time. Respect is good but in a
compound house, give it equally to everyone.

4. Follow House Rules Or Schedule

You don’t want to break house rules or cleaning schedules. This is like a very major cause of conflicts in compound houses.
There are no excuses for avoiding or missing your turn. If you feel you won’t be available to handle your turn, organise and swap with another tenant or have someone
do it for you and you do his/her turn. Don’t break house rules or cleaning schedules if you want peace in a compound house.

5. See Yourself As A Tenant, Not A Landlord

You’re a tenant, see yourself as that, very simple. You go to a house and a tenant gives instructions and acts bossy over everyone, this is not right and would lead to many conflicts with other tenants who wouldn’t
see the need to do your bidding. You’re a tenant like everyone, if you’re given the privilege of sharing bills, or acting in a certain capacity by other tenants, respect
them and don’t become a boss over them.

6. Respect Religious Choices Of Others

A compound house has tenants of various religious backgrounds and it’s important that as a tenant, you respect their choice.
Don’t speak ill about their religion or make it look like yours is better than them. Respect when they practice their routines. If something they do affects you, for instance loud prayers, you can alert them and make them aware. Trying to fight tenants over
their religious choices can spark a huge conflict, plus you need to understand that it’s a compound house and not your personal house.

7. Don’t Get Too Close To The Landlord

Whether the landlord stays in the house or somewhere else, don’t be seen as the pet of the landlord. When you’re always seen with
the landlord, landlord wants to talk to you everytime, he’s calling you here and there, it can create problems. Landlords have issues
with tenants all the time so you don’t want to be seen as the one who said something to the landlord or has been giving the
landlord information from the house. When the landlord acts a certain way against the other tenants, they’ll all feel you said
something to him about them. Stay in your corner and have your peace.

8. Don’t Talk About Others

The best way to stay out of trouble in life in general is not to talk about other people.
This normally brews problems because the one you talk to will go tell somebody else and the chain continues until it gets to the
one you spoke about. You’ll be branded a lie, a gossip and will have to endure insults and
abuse from the person.
There are also times when you talk about one tenant with another and you end up having an issue with that person, they won’t
miss a heart beat by telling everyone what you said about the other person to them.
Stay out of this and have your peace.

I'm speaking from experience I've had in a 'Face Me I Face You' house.


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