Part 36

Earlier on; a few weeks earlier, the Sage had heard of a certain farming community that had negotiated a relocation successfully. Apparently, negotiating with the officials was a possible solution to their problems. But this time luck was not on the side of the villages. The officials declined instituting the compensations requested by the representatives.

The farming community two villages away, that were successful had approached their negotiation as if it was a festival . Perhaps that counted in their favour. Perhaps they were simply fortunate, the state government was yet to implement proceedings for a right of way on the farmlands. But it turned out that they were one of the few lucky ones.

Part 35

The government officials listened, not amused by the cross talk going on between the Sage and Chief Iyagbaye. As far as they were concerned it was totally within their power to decide the fate of these villages. So they expected a little more proficiency in negotiation, if there was to be any negotiations between them and the villagers’ reps. A fact that did not go down well with the Sage who sensed this when he saw the reaction of the government officials. At first the meeting had seemed like a public presentation; it looked like it was ending as one anyway. The Sage had hoped to get a free reign on presentations but Iyagbaye was putting his fist in on the proceedings. This was becoming a difficult session of negotiations.

Part 34

‘’Yes I agree with what Chief Iyagbaye is saying but more importantly, we should negotiate for a quick response by the state government to our needs. We need the government to evaluate the fertility of our farmlands and how the transportation of crude has affected it.’’

‘’Sorry my Sage but there are more urgent needs than the evaluation of our farmlands. It is clear that the pipelines and oil spills have had an adverse effect on our farmlands. That is why we should not have them going through our lands.’’