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Radio Scripts

Package 77
March 2006

The Long Dry Season: A Tale of Greed and Resourcefulness

Package 77 - Table of Contents

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Episode 11

CAST

1.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP, 0.5 AND UNDER OPENING ANNOUNCEMENTS. UP AND UNDER...
2.NARRATOR:Friends? Are you there? Are you, like me, wondering what has become of Mabudi? Three years have flown by since a summit was held to engage everyone on a plan to look after their land, forests and water for themselves and future generations. A worthy cause, wouldn't you say? But surprise, surprise! Mabudi is yet to sign the convention that came out of that meeting. Recall that they staged a walkout that fateful day.

Sadly, the lush forest of Mabudi is no more. The land is dead... this is no exaggeration... though they kept digging deeper, the boreholes and wells are dry and deliver not a drop. All you can see are fields and fields of dust, sand and cracked baked earth. And this is just EIGHT years after Moleke charged in to Mabudi with all his promises. There's no trees, no plants, and no birdsong where the vegetables were grown - just silence and wind. Only on Yohanna's hillside oasis will you find anything growing... Ah, but it is sad.

What about the friendship between THE ABAH and Moleke? Did it stand the test of time? The conquering hero is now called the scoundrel miner - and not just behind his back! Truly, the honeymoon is over and there is gnashing of teeth.
3.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE UNDER...

SCENE 1

4.SFX:CHIEF ABAH'S HOUSE. FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.
5.MOLEKE:(EXPANSIVELY) The great Abah himself! Long may you reign!
6.ABAH:Ah, the High Chief! Come in, come in. I got your message and have been waiting for you to come and explain its meaning.
7.MOLEKE:(LAUGHING) Chief oh Chief, which part of the message do you not understand? I'm here to collect the money you owe me. I've been out all day, collecting my debts.
8.ABAH:You see, that is my point! I don't remember owing you.
9.MOLEKE:According to my records here, you do. (SHEETS RUFFLING AS BOOK IS OPENED) You see, where I go, this book goes. Not that I need a book to remind me - I never forget a debt owed me ... but I carry it for the sake of my debtors.
10.ABAH:You must be joking. Me, Abah, owe you?
11.MOLEKE:(MOVING TO ABAH) Here, you can take a look. Here is your name ... right here.
12.ABAH:Bala, hand me my reading glasses. (PAUSE 3 BEATS. THE ABAH LETS OUT A LOW WHISTLE IN SURPRISE) Yes...I can see my name. What! What is this ridiculous figure doing next to my name? Five hundred thousand naira? [EXPRESS THIS IN LOCAL CURRENCY] When did I borrow such an amount from you?
13.MOLEKE:Don't look so shocked. This is money for services rendered. The boreholes I sank throughout the village...
14.ABAH:(CUTS IN) Wait a minute! What are you talking about? You have been deducting money from our sales for these boreholes for over eight years now.
15.MOLEKE:That is true, and each deduction is carefully documented.
16.ABAH:So when is it going to end, Moleke? You made huge sums of money from the sale of wood - not a tree is left standing in the forest today. How can I still owe you?
17.MOLEKE:Chief...Chief! The wood didn't fetch much, not enough to offset the costs I incurred.
18.BALA MANU:(WHISTLES) Unbelievable! First you cut down the entire forest, then you sold all the wood, yet you say it's not enough? Papa, you remember when I told you this man was up to no good?
19.MOLEKE:Bala, shut up! (MIMICKING) "Up to no good?" What good are you? You should be working as a houseboy somewhere in the city to offset your father's debt. Nonsense!
20.ABAH:Moleke, leave my son alone. What he does is none of your business.
21.MOLEKE:Why are we even wasting time talking? Look, Abah, if you cannot pay what you owe, quietly sign over your lands to me.
22.ABAH:What? You're even worse than I thought! What makes you think I'll just hand over my lands to you? And to think that Yohanna... and even young Bala here tried to warn me!
23.MOLEKE:Don't you ever mention Yohanna's name to me! I have no business with him. Besides, he did not benefit from any of the untold riches I brought to you and the entire Mabudi village.
24.ABAH:Untold riches you say?!! Where are the riches now? Since you are recounting history, I welcomed you here like a conquering hero when you showed up after 20 years of absence. I treated you like a worthy son of the soil, gave you a chieftaincy title, even took other people's lands by force and gave them to you. Is this how you repay me?
25.MOLEKE:Abah, you are beginning to annoy me with your whining! Sell your property, or get a job in town as a security guard - I don't care what you do. Just pay back my money.
26.BALA MANU:(ANGRILY) How dare you? Security guard? God forbid! Look Moleke, do you realize you are in the presence of a King, His Royal Highness, THE ABAH!
27.MOLEKE:(LAUGHS SCORNFULLY) In the presence of a king?! Royal Highness without a cent! Abah the debtor! Even this Palace is no longer yours. King of where or who?
28.ABAH:What an insult! So I have now become an object of ridicule? No problem! But remember, I only have to cough and my guards will chase you out of Mabudi, you ungrateful, selfish wretch! You are incapable of feeling what people around you are going through.
29.MOLEKE:Abah...Abah, look in the mirror. You and I are birds of the same feather! You are King. But you see your subjects as stepping stones to get ahead! Now that you have fallen, you want me to treat you with the charity you are not willing to show others? Ha!
30.ABAH:Moleke, I will ignore your insults! I blame my own bad judgment and fortune for dining with a devil like you.
31.BALA MANU:Papa, don't waste your energy on this viper. He has just shown his true colours like Yohanna tried to warn us...
32.MOLEKE:If you are done weeping like babies, pay me my money. If you want me to help you find work as a houseboy or security guard, let me know. I'll put in a good word for you.
33.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND CROSS FADE TO

SCENE 2

34.SFX:BIRDS CHIRPING, INSECT NOISES, ETC. GENERAL AMBIENCE OF A FARM.
35.YOHANNA:Just look at my farm... who would have imagined that maize and cassava would thrive on this parched land?
36.SHURAHI:You made the right decision by staying on in Mabudi to salvage this land when other people decided to leave. Your hard work is beginning to pay off.
37.YOHANNA:Some people just don't have any attachment to anything! I believe that, even if mistakes have been made and the situation seems hopelessly bad, people shouldn't just throw in the towel and move elsewhere.
38.SHURAHI:You're right. I couldn't agree with you more.
39.YOHANNA:I'm quite pleased at this transformation in such a short time. Look at how everything is growing. I just like to stand and admire the crops.
40.SHURAHI:Over time, and with efforts like these, all of this dry wasted land could actually be rehabilitated.
41.YOHANNA:It's certainly worth trying. It saddens me that so much of the forest is gone and all we have left is this dusty crust of eroded land.
42.SHURAHI:We can start small, just one piece of land at a time, and make some planting pits. As for your optimism, it's one of the things we need more people to cultivate!
43.YOHANNA:You are most gracious, Shurahi. (PAUSE) These planting pits that you mention - tell me how to make them.
44.SHURAHI:It's easy actually. Dig a round pit about 15 - 20 centimetres deep.
45.YOHANNA:Let's see. Twenty centimetres deep - that means halfway from my heel to the knee, if I were to stand in the pit?
46.SHURAHI:Right. Also, the pit should be about 25 centimetres in diameter. That's probably the length of an adult's foot. Make as many pits as you want throughout the field, then fill them up with organic matter, just anything that can decompose.
47.YOHANNA:Perhaps it is better to dig and fill the pits in the dry season. Then the contents will decompose before the rainy season begins.
48.SHURAHI:That's the common practice. Another important point to remember is to carefully arrange the earth removed from the pit in a half-circle along the pit's lowest edge, so that runoff water flows downhill into the pit.
49.YOHANNA:It sounds easy. The difficult part is probably the digging.
50.SHURAHI:Right. But once you plant, you'll be amazed at how much better the yields are. Over the years, you can dig other pits beside the original ones. Before you know it, whole fields can be rehabilitated.
51.YOHANNA:I'm definitely going to try this method on some of the abandoned fields.
52.SHURAHI:You will never regret it, I assure you. You can produce enough food for your household, and perhaps even for sale.
53.YOHANNA:As a boy, I remember seeing farmers grow grains in pits. I'm trying to remember what they used to call it... Mmmm! Tassa, I think.
54.SHURAHI:Exactly! You are correct. In some places people call it tassa; in others they call it zai. (NOTE TO BROADCASTERS: USE LOCAL WORD).
55.YOHANNA:Oh, I'm so excited at the prospect of trying. Thank you for helping me learn something new each time I see you.
56.SHURAHI:Now you are being modest. I have learned a lot from you too, excellent farm practices that will make good material for the book I'm writing: "Farm Tales from All Over".
57.YOHANNA:You can't be serious.
58.SHURAHI:I can think of many things I've learned from you: the way you use prickly pear cactus for erosion control and use the leaves as fodder ...
59.YOHANNA:You'll include that in your book?
60.SHURAHI:Of course! And burying a clay pot with tiny holes in it in the soil next to vegetable seedlings to provide water directly to their roots. It's so effective! When you fill that pot with water and bury it, there's no evaporation because the water moves underground from the pot to the area around the plant roots.
61.YOHANNA:You remember it well.
62.SHURAHI:Oh I do. Actually, I came to your farm to introduce something like this to you, only to find that you were doing it already.
63.YOHANNA:I owe that knowledge to my father.
64.SHURAHI:And now you're passing it on to your son and others. These are practices that other farmers can benefit from, especially farmers in dry zones. It's all in my book.
65.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER

SCENE 3

66.SFX:KNOCK ON THE DOOR.
67.ZARA:Hassan, stop fooling around, just come in.
68.GARAM:(OPENS DOOR A CRACK) Sorry, I'm not Hassan, but can I come in?
69.ZARA:(MOVING TO THE DOOR) Who is...ah, Garam, it's you. Please come in. I thought it was my brother. He likes to knock and make me open the door for him. You're welcome. Please sit down.
70.GARAM:Thank you. How are you, Zara?
71.ZARA:I'm fine.
72.GARAM:(TEASING) Yes, you are a fine young woman. I can see that.
73.ZARA:Not at all. I mean ... that's not what I meant. Please sit.
74.GARAM:Thank you. It's always good to be back here. Although this time, it feels different. The village is so quiet, almost like a ghost town. I almost turned back.
75.ZARA:Oh, you haven't come here lately...things have gone from bad to worse since the last time you were here. Everybody has left Mabudi in search of greener pastures.
76.GARAM:(SHOCKED) Really? You know I passed several houses that looked completely deserted.
77.ZARA:I don't blame them. The whole place looks like it's forsaken by Mother Nature. Who could possibly want to live here?
78.GARAM:But what happened?
79.ZARA:In a nutshell, everything went wrong: the land stopped producing, the wells went dry, almost everybody owed Moleke some money ... those who couldn't pay lost their lands to Moleke as collateral. (PAUSE) Sorry, can I offer you a drink?
80.GARAM:Thanks. A glass of water will do. That man Moleke is a nightmare! I'm sorry. He's your uncle, isn't he?
81.ZARA:No need to apologize. He was like a madman the way he went about collecting his debts. Drove everybody crazy. After handing over their lands, most people had no way to make a living. So they packed up and left.
82.GARAM:What a contrast. The last time I was here, everything was booming. People bought a lot of luxury items, electronics, jewellery - you name it!
83.ZARA:Now the tide has changed completely.
84.GARAM:What about your family? Does your father have plans to move?
85.ZARA:(LAUGHS) You don't know my father. He's unmovable! He doesn't mind being the last man standing. Even if everyone leaves, he'll stay put!
86.GARAM:It shows good strength of character.
87.ZARA:Or a suicidal nature perhaps. Look around you. Everything is dead. But my father will probably die trying to coax the land back from the brink rather than bail out.
88.GARAM:I admire your father so much. He is very wise. He works hard. He believes in striving, no matter how difficult it might seem. And to think that he and Moleke were raised by the same man Babamu, yet see how different their paths are!
89.ZARA:I didn't know you thought so highly of my father.
90.GARAM:Oh, I do. And I'd like to stay and help out. I know of ways of making dry lands productive again. I have traveled far and wide and have witnessed what people elsewhere have accomplished with infertile lands.
91.ZARA:(SPARK OF INTEREST) Really? And how long do you intend to stay?
92.GARAM:(LAUGHS) For as long as your family needs me. I only hope I can find somewhere to live?
93.ZARA:Are you kidding? You won't lack a place to stay. The whole village is at your disposal.
94.GARAM:You know, you actually remind me of your father.
95.ZARA:I do? In what way?
96.GARAM:(IN A LOW VOICE) You have his looks. You inherited his height, you're very slim with a nice figure. Zara, you're quite a lovely young woman, you know? But I'm sure you've heard that before. I bet you've broken more than a few hearts of young Mabudi men. (PAUSE) Oh, I've made you shy!
97.ZARA:(LAUGHS) No. I mean, what about you? I see how all the women of Mabudi give you the eye. Even my father's wife...
98.GARAM:Your stepmother, you mean? Now you remind me ...where is she?
99.ZARA:Flown away, gone with the winds. And thank you, but she's not my stepmother. She was my father's wife, period!
100.GARAM:That makes her your stepmother.
101.ZARA:Whatever. As for where to live, you can take your pick of residences, from the palace to our neighbour's hut. No one is there to mind.
102.MUSIC:BRIDGE MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER

SCENE 4

103.SFX:FARM AMBIENCE. THROUGHOUT THE SCENE, THERE SHOULD BE SOUNDS OF DIGGING OF HOLES.
104.BALA MANU:(CALLING OUT) Hassan! Hassan, where are you?
105.YOHANNA:That sounds like Bala.
106.HASSAN:Yes, Papa, it is indeed. (ANSWERING) Over here, Bala. We are here, near the baobab tree.
107.BALA MANU:(COMING ON) I didn't know your father was here too. Good afternoon, Baba Yohanna.
108.YOHANNA:Bala, welcome. You braved this sun to come to our farm?
109.BALA MANU:But you are the ones working in this scorching heat.
110.YOHANNA:We'll soon stop. As soon as we complete this part, we'll rest and come back in the evening when it's cooler.
111.BALA MANU:Each time I come out here, I see something new. What are you doing this time?
112.HASSAN: Making stone lines. They act as barriers to water and soil from downslope runoff. We've just started on the second. We'll build more across the length of the field.
113.BALA MANU:How do they work?
114.YOHANNA:You see the way the stones are arranged? When it rains, these stones stop water from running off down the slope. That way, the water will soak into the soil, and there'll be more water for the crops.
115.BALA MANU:That makes a lot of sense. But it must have taken you a long time to gather all these stones.
116.YOHANNA:Yes, it did. We used both small and large ones, so that in arranging them, there should be no gaps. You know why?
117.BALA MANU:I think I do, sir. If you leave gaps, water will escape?
118.HASSAN:Also, if stones are washed out, gullies can form downslope from the gaps.
119.BALA MANU:Simple but ingenious. And it looks so solid!
120.YOHANNA:You have to make it solid. This one is about 20 centimetres wide, and 20 centimetres high. You can build it as high as 30 centimetres.
121.BALA MANU:Well, now that I'm here, can I help a little?
122.YOHANNA:Thank you. You're a good boy. Here, you can make a stone line all by yourself. How is your father, by the way?
123.BALA MANU:He's fine actually, having come to his senses lately.
124.YOHANNA:What do you mean?
125.BALA MANU:He has finally admitted that you were right about Moleke, about the danger of using ground water indiscriminately, and many other things.
126.YOHANNA:I wish I could have done more to prevent Mabudi from sinking to this level.
127.BALA MANU:You sounded the warning; people just didn't pay attention. Moleke has even enticed and taken over Babi, my father's last wife. (YOHANNA AND HASSAN EXPRESS SHOCK). It's true. She's installed in his house in the city.
128.YOHANNA:He is shameless! Is there any evil Moleke cannot do?
129.BALA MANU:It appears we'll be moving to Papalanto. I'm going to be a steward, and my father ... well, he has got a job with a relative who trades in foreign currency. Actually, he runs a black market bureau de change.
130.YOHANNA:Incredible! I'm so sorry that your father, the village head of our community, has been reduced to this!
131.BALA MANU:(CHANGING THE SUBJECT SUDDENLY) Actually, I stopped by the house before coming here. I was hoping to say good-bye to Zara too, but she wasn't there.
132.YOHANNA:Oh, Zara is helping Garam settle in Jauro's house.
133.BALA MANU:The Mobile Supermarket? Why is he staying in Jauro's house?
134.YOHANNA:He has offered to stay and help those of us who wish to remain and reclaim the land. He seems to know a lot of good practices.
135.BALA MANU:That's quite generous of him. I wish I could also stay...
136.HASSAN:It'd be great if you could stay. Please, can't you stay?
137.YOHANNA:Come now Hassan, we mustn't be selfish. We'll miss you, Bala, but I think it'll be good for you. You have been trying to get into the University at Papalanto, right?
138.BALA MANU:That's true, sir. I've tried twice already. Haven't succeeded yet.
139.YOHANNA:Don't worry; you'll succeed at the third attempt. Just keep knocking at that University door until you get an answer, ok?!
140.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP AND UNDER...
141.NARRATOR:Ah, friends! Mabudi, oh Mabudi! I weep for you my native land! And to think that someone saw this day coming and warned us. But did we listen? Thanks to Moleke's sweet tongue we were determined like the housefly to follow the corpse until we got buried together.

But Yohanna ...God, I love the determination of that man! He and a few remnants have refused to throw in the towel and flee. They are quite prepared to stay and fight back to regain their land. Is it going to work? Let's wait and see what other excitement is in store for those of us who tune in to the program. See you all next time.
142.MUSIC:THEME MUSIC UP AND FADE UNDER CLOSING CREDITS

The End

Script written by Euphemia Kange Chiekyula, ARDA

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