The plot turns employed by the 419 writers can be a little hard to follow, but what the accounts lack in narrative drive, they make up for with picaresque shading. "I cannot send the money to my client's mistress any more," Ahmed Grema Esq. confided in me. "Since the death of my father, the government of my country has subjected our family to solitary confinement, which I believe is the most traumatic punisment that can be inflicted on anyone," General Abacha's son, Mallam told me. (Fortunately, he still had a computer and e-mail in his cell.) And in his second letter to me, Sir Sambujang Jammeh, an openly emotional man despite his high station, really let his hair down:
Everybody I know will face God's judgment one day and we shall all account for our sins and if we are guided by the fact that there is life, then we will eschew violence and stop lying. The bibles says, after death, then judgment what matters is how we use that which was given to us to affect people like or to dupe, cheat and maltreat them, we shall all account for these. The judgment of God will be terrible, yes terrible. I can go on and on to lament.
Then, as if to prove he was a man of his word, he did go on. "Okay, supposing millions of dollars were found in [General Abacha's] house, but the question is all these money holed from the state treasury? Some may have been gifts from friends."
If I have a favorite among the 419 writers group, I suppose it's Sir Sambujang Jammeh -- indefatigable, effusive and a deep believer in the terrible, terrible judgment of God. I favor him because while I responded to all the letters to express interest in the writers' stories, only the noble knight wrote back to me, signing his reply simply Jammeh. "Dear Sir," began his 465-word response, "Thank you so much for your most thoughtful letter. The more I go through your letter each passing day, the more encouraged I give to the traumatized Abacha family; at lease they are begging to feel that there might be light at the end of the tunnel."
I believe I see the glow from here. My response to Jammeh apparently opened a floodgate of emotion; his feelings for the Abacha family are equaled only by the overflowing cornucopia of cash -- about $8 million -- he wishes to bestow upon me.
What does one expect from a family that has seen it All -- the best things of late and suddenly had crashed into poverty-penury ... since the former head of state died, he has been personified by everything evil. One man who suffered to put things right in the country -- a man of vision and an Iron in his own stead. Today illation has taken over the reins of the government, terror has been the order of the day and thank God that people are having a rethink.An Iron in his own stead! The reins of government grabbed by illation! ("To infer ...") But, like the guy at the end of the bar who won't stop bellowing at the TV news, Jammeh's just warming up. He is so furious at the present Nigerian government headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo (the country's first democratically elected chief executive in over 15 years), so incensed by the way the Abacha family has been mistreated that, well, I'll let him tell you:
One wonders really the present administration cannot allow the former first family to rest. Everyday, it is Abacha this and Abacha that, one thing that marvels the reasoning mind is that some of these crones are still serving in Obasanjo's govt ... People are realizing that Abacha is not really the evil genius but these men were. Abacha was able to rid this country of crime-people had to work to eat.OK, OK, calm down, Jammeh. Get to the point, will you?
To my point sir, all we need is your name, company name to start the process of changing the certificate of the deed of deposit in your favour to enable you come over to claim the money. That's all. Let me know what you think about this.
I could certainly use $8 million -- that on top of my tax rebate would enable me to return from my lucrative trip to Nigeria and move right up to one of the nicer lots on the Big Rock Candy Mountain -- but I haven't quite found the time to sort out my thoughts and reply to Jammeh's plea. Until I do, I get some comfort from thinking of him going through my letter each passing day and the light that it brings him from the end of the tunnel. I don't know much about the late General Abacha, but I think that Jammeh is a man of vision and an Iron in his own stead, and, if he keeps at it, a writer with a future.
By the way, this -- in its entirety -- is the letter that I sent Sambujang Jammeh that ignited his exuberant response: "Dear Sambujang Jammeh, Your story is an interesting one. What more can you tell me about your situation?"
About the writer
Douglas Cruickshank is the editor of Salon People.
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