It was time for harvest, and farmers had been busy on the farm, after months of labour. In a particular farm settlement in Ogun State, the community had become used to farmers coming in, some with vehicles, to move harvested products to the market or the buyers besieging the area to buy agricultural products. So, it was not out-of-place to see a woman, after all a number of the farmers in the settlement or their customers are women, bearing a sack filled with cassava. Yet, some of the farmers felt that there was something strange about the woman in question. Is it that they felt she was not entitled to harvest her product or were they expecting her to seek permission from other farmers before she could harvest?
Within the farm settlement, there was some kind of close knit relationship that had even promoted the floating of a cooperative and thrift society, through which some of the farmers had got the support of the government. And there is no special rule to how a farmer harvests his or her product. So, why is the case of the woman different?
The reason is that one of the farmers raised an eyebrow. He suspected that the woman was not known to be a farmer in that settlement. He also felt that if any of the farmers were to sell his/her products to somebody when he/she would not be there, the farmer would at least inform other farmers. He reasoned that none of the farmers there had put anybody on notice that he had harvested products that a customer would come to take away in his absence. His colleagues agreed with him. They, therefore, asked what was to be done. While this was going on, the woman appeared to have a good knowledge of the environment, and did not give any impression that she was a stranger in the area. In fact, the farmers feared that she was almost leaving the vicinity of the farm settlement and was approaching the adjoining road, where she would have boarded a vehicle that would have taken her away from the area. That was the point at which they accosted her.
The spectacle drew a crowd of people, some of who felt that she was being harassed unnecessarily, because the woman insisted that she was the owner of the cassava, and that she harvested the products from her farm! It was the turn of the sympathisers to ask the suspecting farmers to prove that she was not a farmer there and that the bag of cassava was stolen. She swore and cried, alleging that there was an agenda to deprive her of what she had laboured for over the months. Her protest no doubt appealed to emotions, as people felt that the antics of the farmers in the settlement would deny the woman the gain she would make from customers she was targeting at the nearby morning market. Were they being goaded by envy or were they making a genuine allegation?
There was confusion, and the crowd that converged were divided. While some believed that the farmers would know who was a farmer there enough for them not to make any mistake, some others felt that there was more to the matter. Suddenly, the woman started to behave as if she was mentally challenged, and some people suspected that she was also trying to move away from the crowd. That was when she was forced to confess that she actually stole the cassava. She had arrived at the farm in the wee hours of the day hoping to conclude whatever she had to do before any of the farmers arrived. That plan failed, when she noticed that they started arriving one after the other. But she was not going to abandon what she had harvested. By the time she confessed to lying that she harvested from her farm, the real farmer had come!
It was later discovered that the woman was not even living in the neighbourhood. She probably had studied the environment, perhaps knew how early farmers there arrive at their farms, and believed that hse would beat everyone there to it that day. She was not so lucky. The crowd that had shown some sympathy, under the impression that she was being cheated, got angry. They descended on her.
A bad day, you will say, for a “rightful owner” .
It was time for harvest, and farmers had been busy on the farm, after months of labour. In a particular farm settlement in Ogun State, the community had become used to farmers coming in, some with vehicles, to move harvested products to the market or the buyers besieging the area to buy agricultural products. So, it was not out-of-place to see a woman, after all a number of the farmers in the settlement or their customers are women, bearing a sack filled with cassava. Yet, some of the farmers felt that there was something strange about the woman in question. Is it that they felt she was not entitled to harvest her product or were they expecting her to seek permission from other farmers before she could harvest?
Within the farm settlement, there was some kind of close knit relationship that had even promoted the floating of a cooperative and thrift society, through which some of the farmers had got the support of the government. And there is no special rule to how a farmer harvests his or her product. So, why is the case of the woman different?
The reason is that one of the farmers raised an eyebrow. He suspected that the woman was not known to be a farmer in that settlement. He also felt that if any of the farmers were to sell his/her products to somebody when he/she would not be there, the farmer would at least inform other farmers. He reasoned that none of the farmers there had put anybody on notice that he had harvested products that a customer would come to take away in his absence. His colleagues agreed with him. They, therefore, asked what was to be done. While this was going on, the woman appeared to have a good knowledge of the environment, and did not give any impression that she was a stranger in the area. In fact, the farmers feared that she was almost leaving the vicinity of the farm settlement and was approaching the adjoining road, where she would have boarded a vehicle that would have taken her away from the area. That was the point at which they accosted her.
The spectacle drew a crowd of people, some of who felt that she was being harassed unnecessarily, because the woman insisted that she was the owner of the cassava, and that she harvested the products from her farm! It was the turn of the sympathisers to ask the suspecting farmers to prove that she was not a farmer there and that the bag of cassava was stolen. She swore and cried, alleging that there was an agenda to deprive her of what she had laboured for over the months. Her protest no doubt appealed to emotions, as people felt that the antics of the farmers in the settlement would deny the woman the gain she would make from customers she was targeting at the nearby morning market. Were they being goaded by envy or were they making a genuine allegation?
There was confusion, and the crowd that converged were divided. While some believed that the farmers would know who was a farmer there enough for them not to make any mistake, some others felt that there was more to the matter. Suddenly, the woman started to behave as if she was mentally challenged, and some people suspected that she was also trying to move away from the crowd. That was when she was forced to confess that she actually stole the cassava. She had arrived at the farm in the wee hours of the day hoping to conclude whatever she had to do before any of the farmers arrived. That plan failed, when she noticed that they started arriving one after the other. But she was not going to abandon what she had harvested. By the time she confessed to lying that she harvested from her farm, the real farmer had come!
It was later discovered that the woman was not even living in the neighbourhood. She probably had studied the environment, perhaps knew how early farmers there arrive at their farms, and believed that hse would beat everyone there to it that day. She was not so lucky. The crowd that had shown some sympathy, under the impression that she was being cheated, got angry. They descended on her.
A bad day, you will say, for a “rightful owner” .
It was time for harvest, and farmers had been busy on the farm, after months of labour. In a particular farm settlement in Ogun State, the community had become used to farmers coming in, some with vehicles, to move harvested products to the market or the buyers besieging the area to buy agricultural products. So, it was not out-of-place to see a woman, after all a number of the farmers in the settlement or their customers are women, bearing a sack filled with cassava. Yet, some of the farmers felt that there was something strange about the woman in question. Is it that they felt she was not entitled to harvest her product or were they expecting her to seek permission from other farmers before she could harvest?
Within the farm settlement, there was some kind of close knit relationship that had even promoted the floating of a cooperative and thrift society, through which some of the farmers had got the support of the government. And there is no special rule to how a farmer harvests his or her product. So, why is the case of the woman different?
The reason is that one of the farmers raised an eyebrow. He suspected that the woman was not known to be a farmer in that settlement. He also felt that if any of the farmers were to sell his/her products to somebody when he/she would not be there, the farmer would at least inform other farmers. He reasoned that none of the farmers there had put anybody on notice that he had harvested products that a customer would come to take away in his absence. His colleagues agreed with him. They, therefore, asked what was to be done. While this was going on, the woman appeared to have a good knowledge of the environment, and did not give any impression that she was a stranger in the area. In fact, the farmers feared that she was almost leaving the vicinity of the farm settlement and was approaching the adjoining road, where she would have boarded a vehicle that would have taken her away from the area. That was the point at which they accosted her.
The spectacle drew a crowd of people, some of who felt that she was being harassed unnecessarily, because the woman insisted that she was the owner of the cassava, and that she harvested the products from her farm! It was the turn of the sympathisers to ask the suspecting farmers to prove that she was not a farmer there and that the bag of cassava was stolen. She swore and cried, alleging that there was an agenda to deprive her of what she had laboured for over the months. Her protest no doubt appealed to emotions, as people felt that the antics of the farmers in the settlement would deny the woman the gain she would make from customers she was targeting at the nearby morning market. Were they being goaded by envy or were they making a genuine allegation?
There was confusion, and the crowd that converged were divided. While some believed that the farmers would know who was a farmer there enough for them not to make any mistake, some others felt that there was more to the matter. Suddenly, the woman started to behave as if she was mentally challenged, and some people suspected that she was also trying to move away from the crowd. That was when she was forced to confess that she actually stole the cassava. She had arrived at the farm in the wee hours of the day hoping to conclude whatever she had to do before any of the farmers arrived. That plan failed, when she noticed that they started arriving one after the other. But she was not going to abandon what she had harvested. By the time she confessed to lying that she harvested from her farm, the real farmer had come!
It was later discovered that the woman was not even living in the neighbourhood. She probably had studied the environment, perhaps knew how early farmers there arrive at their farms, and believed that hse would beat everyone there to it that day. She was not so lucky. The crowd that had shown some sympathy, under the impression that she was being cheated, got angry. They descended on her.
A bad day, you will say, for a “rightful owner” .
