Part 52

From this man, the Sage had required an explanation of the various aspects of the national plan the federal government had proffered towards the development of the technology sector of the economy and their intent to plough back the proceeds from the exportation of the crude into the education sector and other parts of the economy. But it was a long time coming. The Sage was a convinced man. That he was convinced the nation’s economy was well off without the crude oil exploitation of foreign conglomerates was an understanding this familiar stranger was eager to refute. For it was a time of great debate on the way forward the national government was expected to follow. Most people would agree the benefits outweigh the risks, but few could foresee that it was a matter of giving up otherwise better opportunities; the development of the agricultural sector of the economy for example.

Often enough the Sage would find himself referring to the ideas professed by this friend as ideas foreign to the culture of the people. The Sage could not bring himself to concede that anything could be more acceptable than the farming, fishing and trading traditions of the villages; especially the villages in the south.

Part 51

One night, while the Sage was on a visit to the state capital city, he ran into an old friend, whom as it turned out was working with one of the petroleum conglomerates in the south. This man had known the Sage in earlier years of his traveling and had made his acquaintance during one of his stays at the Holy Trinity Church. It was from this friend he learnt the values of what the country stood to benefit from the crude oil industry; his convictions and expectations; his belief that the benefits outweigh the risks and his understanding that the wealth of nations cannot be surpassed if there are natural resources inherent in the lands.

Part 50

The Sage would not but agree that favour with strangers had never eluded him. and that a certain flair for people skills had always been with him. So much so he thought it pertinent to apply tactfulness when he discussed with the soldier how it was, the troublesome youths needed to be frog whipped: a thing that was difficult to do, as the Soldier Gani was only too hard pressed to get information about the leaders of the youth, their followers and the troublemakers.

Part 49

Often enough, the Sage whenever he arrived in a new city or village would mingle in the religious parts of that city in an attempt to get charitable hospitality for lack of a readily available means to pay his keep. Once during a visit to the south state’s city capital, he stayed in the private lodgings of one of the pentecostal churches in the city. He was welcomed as a guest of the church preacher; welcomed to stay over whenever he visited the capital city.

Part 48

As a young man, the Sage had honed his skills as a man of traditional wisdom from the nomadic journeys he had made from villages to cities across the states. Long before he became well known by the village dwellers in Ibinabo’s village as well as the surrounding villages, he was a well worn traveler. It was only when he had on prolonged journeys, seen the best part of the country’s cities that he began to settle in the villages of the south.

Part 47

Expectedly, the Sage was very knowledgeable and wise about what it was this military man was trying to find out from him. But he was unable to avoid proffering answers to the searching questions Soldier Gani had asked him. Now the Sage was deliberate in his attempt to extricate himself from what may be publicly misread and that which may be damaging to his reputation. But in spite of this, his good intentions were misconstrued for an attempt to curry favours from the military men, and the local government.

Part 46

A long time ago, well before this morning, Soldier Gani had deemed it appropriate to take an hour off duty calls to see the Sage. He had to hurry to return within the time the guards were scheduled to change, to ensure a quick return to his duty post. It was not as if he knew the Sage in person. But he was well aware the importance of this man. Earlier on; a few months earlier he and the other soldiers had encountered a mob that had gone on riot and had threatened to disrupt the construction of crude oil pipelines. Going to the Sage to discuss the mood of the youths in the villages was part of a broader strategy to curb the insecurity in the surrounding villages.