Part 40

This went down badly with Madam Jolie. Her sentiment was that she was a very important person in the village, so she should get her requests granted. For this reason as well as for the reason her child’s father was a titled man of first class emissary. The sentiments most young women had, in Madam Jolie’s village about entering into a relationship with titled men was that it was a thing to covet; to be attached to a chief of first class emissary. But  it also depended on how wealthy the chief was and the kinds or amounts of respect he garnered amongst village dwellers.

Part 39

‘‘I knew you would come early, but I did not expect you will be this early and without Abani for that matter, maybe you should not have left without her,’’ she said.

‘‘I was afraid you would be out for one of those government meetings, I was told the Sage and the chief are meeting the government men today at the king’s palace.’’

‘‘No, not the king’s palace. The village square. My new land and money is yet to get to my hands. The government is just making promises they would not keep.’’

Ibinabo answered,’’there is a reason for this, they are making great sums of money from these companies, so there is no way they would help you.’’

Part 38

Madam Jolie Jolie was a pretty middle-aged woman: old enough to be Ibinabo’s elder sister. She was unmarried but not childless. Her son was a child she had had when she was in her very early twenties for a chief who was only too married to three wives, to marry her. But he had made sure she was well off, without marrying him. As a rule Ibinabo would often offer to help whenever she arrived at meal times at Madam Jolie Jolie’s home because she knows she would be partaking in the meals as well. So it was only natural she helped with the preparation. Madam Jolie’s son was obedient that morning. He was the one in the said kitchen. Outside by the kitchen’s doorway was Madam Jolie Jolie, on a small seat picking melon seeds from a green plastic bowl rested on a brown tray. Her hands were smooth and youthful. Her nails were painted pink and her hair had been combed into an afro. Her black beautiful facial skin glistened in the hot sun. she had a small facial mark on her right cheek, given her as when she was a child

Part 37

Ibinabo appeared to have arrived at the time the negotiations ended. She picked up the pestle that was lying on the hardened mud caked floor on the corridor to Madam Jolie’s kitchen. The kitchen to the building was an extension of the main building. It was a small doorless hut constructed with corrugated zinc sheets, built to keep most of the sun and rain away. Ibinabo placed the pestle, she had picked up, against the wall of the detached hut. The smell of kerosene burning with hot flames on the stoves had become apparent. Madam Jolie had not gone out yet as earlier anticipated. The corrugated sheets that were the walls of the kitchen were rusty brown, and black from the smoke that bellowed from the firewood Madam Jolie had once used to prepare her meals.

 

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.’’