The Duties of the Members in the Community

   Duties are social roles performed by members of the community. The individual lives in a community. This 'Community' can be his family, his kinship group, the village or the nation. The need to regulate or organise the relationship between one individual and another in the community arises from the fact that each individual wants to satisfy his needs and to attain the best achievement. Each person is entitled to his rights in many respects, every right of the individual is accompanied by duties. For the individual to get his rights,  therefore, he or she must perform those duties assigned to him or her by the community.

In other words, rights are claims for the performance of our duties in the community, a community trues to protect the basic of Its members.

   In every community, each family is expected to perform certain roles. The roles in the Community are defined through written and unwritten laws, customs and norms of the community. The roles of the family in the community include giving birth to children who will replace the dead members of the community. If new members are not born into the community, the community will not be able to survive in the future because member get old and die. It is , however, believed that communities can Survive if people move from their former communities  to join other communities but the fact still remains that this process may not be continuous and, yet, those who join the new communities may grow old and die the same.

   Apart from giving birth , the family performs other functions among which are economic, political as well as social.

Concerning economic functions, the family engages in various occupations such as livestock rearing, farming, fishing, trading, etc. In order to get food and money to take care of its members. It is the duty of the family to ensure a rise in the standard of living of its members who are part of the community.

   A position that one attains in the community is initially acquired through his membership of the family. There are several positions acquired within the family, for example, husband, wife, son, mother in-law, father in-law , son in law, daughter in law, etc.

Ownership of property in some societies is acquired through the family. Where  there is patrilineal inheritance, the eldest child or children inherit their father's property. The opposite is the case of matrilineal inheritance. Both matrilineal and patrilineal inheritance had been explained  in one of my previous write up, where a person lives, owns property and married is determined by the family and the community as a whole.

  The family is basically responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the community. It is the duty of the family to see to it that it trains it members to be responsible citizens who obey the laws and keep order in the society. This would bring about development and progress in the community. In Some  communities certain family are responsible for providing leaders for the communities.

In such communities, titles are inherited rather than achieved. Even at the present moment in Nigeria, one's political leaning or political association is more or less determine by members of his family. However, it is not a common thing for two brothers from the same family to belong to different political parties.

   Religious associations are most often prescribed by the family to its members.

Therefore. It is not surprising to find in hone all members being Christians or Muslims. It is a duty of the family to establish a religion for its members.