Only yesterday did I realize how harsh and mistrusting I\u2019d been.\u00a0 Only then did I understand I should have helped in December 2004 when I received an urgent email from Mrs. Rita Savimbi, wife of heroic Angolan revolutionary and guerilla leader Jonas Savimbi.\u00a0 The erudite Mr. Savimbi, who lyrically spoke seven languages, dedicated forty years to battling first the Portuguese colonialists and their thieving native allies, then the Soviet-sponsored Cubans and their Angolan gangsters.\u00a0 He was aided in the former by his Maoist warfare training in China and in the latter by a Reagan administration readying the knockout blow to communism.\u00a0 During these struggles scores of political opponents, regular soldiers, commandos, and common thugs tried to end not merely the political career but the corporeal existence of the most charismatic yet elusive man in the region, and perhaps the world.\u00a0 All of his opponents failed.\u00a0 The colonialists and communists fled, many of the latter in a ship laden with refrigerated corpses.\u00a0 Eventually, it appeared Savimbi would be able to forever lay down his rifle.\u00a0 He did for awhile, and ran for president.\u00a0 Regrettably, he lost the election, denounced the effort as a fraud and again bore arms against hostile forces, which he generally viewed as anyone not wanting Jonas Savimbi to be absolute leader of Angola.<\/p>\n
As they must for all eternal warriors, military defeats eventually came, and in 2002 a weakened Savimbi was ambushed along a riverbank in his native province and, despite leveling his weapon and opening fire, was promptly felled by fifteen machine gun bullets that left bloody, and duly photographed, evidence that the man who couldn\u2019t be killed was in fact gone.\u00a0 The bereaved Mrs. Savimbi needed help of an unusual nature.\u00a0 She was in possession of \u201cseventy-five million United States Dollars, which (she) intended to use for investment purposes specifically in (my) country.\u201d\u00a0 Diamonds, she stated, had been under their control, and evidently generated plenty of cash, which the widow discovered \u201cunder his underground safe\u201d near his residence, perhaps a vacation spot, in South Africa.\u00a0 She was unable to use the funds, however, because of her \u201clate husband\u2019s inability to proceed with the purchase of military hardware which he contracted with (a) South Africa Arms Company.\u201d\u00a0 Since Mrs. Savimbi, handcuffed by her refugee status in South Africa, could not herself invest the money, she asked for my assistance in transferring the funds.\u00a0 There was \u201cno risk attached to this transaction,\u201d and I had only to provide my phone and fax numbers to receive ten percent of the loot.<\/p>\n
Callous and cynical, I declined to respond and thus forfeited seven-and-a-half million dollars.\u00a0 In 2005 the Savimbis offered me another chance.\u00a0 Mr. Savimbi\u2019s daughter Maria, then only twenty, emailed the news that before her father\u2019s death or her mother\u2019s arrest \u2013 the tangled syntax obfuscated the distinction \u2013 he had a \u201cfund being deposited with a leading security company in Europe, up to the tune of $22 Million USD,\u201d and to claim thirty percent I needed only to open an account in my name in \u201cany bank of (my) choice\u201d and \u201cto serve as the guardian of this fund\u201d since she was still not officially old enough, then to arrange for her to come to my country as soon as I retrieved the money.\u00a0 By again doubting the veracity of this offer and failing to reply, I squandered another seven-plus million as well as, perhaps, the opportunity for romance since Maria promised to email her photo the next time.<\/p>\n
As neither fortune nor romance have visited me in sufficient force, I this morning decided to open my heart.\u00a0 Several extraordinary opportunities awaited me in my In Box.\u00a0 I vowed to accept one, but only one since there should be a limit to every person\u2019s good fortune\u00a0 The first offer was from the brother of a Nigerian civil rights leader whose death in an auto accident had been \u201cmasterminded\u201d by those who objected to the decedent\u2019s pungent \u201cstatements and actions about the excesses of some past leaders.\u201d \u00a0His family has set up a foundation that currently holds the \u201cuncomfortable amount of USD 6.4M which (they) now want to transfer out of the country.\u201d\u00a0 They ask only that I work with them in processing \u201ca couple of legal documents to legalise the payment.\u201d\u00a0 They may not be asking for much, but they\u2019re offering only 10%, or USD 640K, and I\u2019m not working for chump change.<\/p>\n
Next I read an email from the \u201cChairman (of the) Contracts Review Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.\u201d\u00a0 Dr. Idris Suleman has a complicated task.\u00a0 His commission is \u201creviewing and settling all outstanding depth (sic) owed by Govt. to contractors who executed projects for the Govt. within the past two decades, but were not paid by the previous military regime.\u201d\u00a0 Though most of the companies have claimed their payments, \u201ca few did not show up\u201d for their financial rewards.\u00a0 Dr. Suleman and his staff have investigated those companies and determined all are \u201cforeign firms who used to operate in Nigeria but \u2026have all packed up and left over fifteen years ago.\u00a0 Further investigations have also revealed that some of these companies have even folded up in their countries of origin.\u201d\u00a0 That leaves \u201cfifteen million US Dollars ($25,000,000 USD)\u201d \u2013 I\u2019m not sure which figure is accurate \u2013 that Dr. Suleman is \u201cdetermined not to return to the Govt.\u201d\u00a0 I can help by setting up a \u201cnominated account\u201d into which all of the funds would be transferred.\u00a0 For that, I\u2019d receive 35% and the good doctor trusts me to \u201csend the remaining 65%\u201d to him.\u00a0 I\u2019m delighted by his faith and will consider Dr. Suleman\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n
Walter Alfred of a \u201cDiplomatic Corp\u201d wrote that while working \u201cwith top firms all over the World (they) have earned a name as a service whose hallmarks in reliability and confidentiality are revered.\u201d\u00a0 Because of these attributes, no doubt, Mr. Alfred has a \u201cbenefactor (who) has mandated (him) to get someone that can assist her and her family in receiving her package\u201d – $25 million USD \u2013 that \u201cwas accrued from Diamond sales\u2026These funds are fully free of any lines or encumbrances\u201d and have \u201cno links whatsoever with either drugs or terrorism.\u201d\u00a0 The benefactor and her children have agreed to give me \u201c30% of the total\u2026which is equivalent to $7.5 Million USD\u2026This role simply entails retrieving the funds on their behalf from the Diplomats in Europe or South Africa.\u201d\u00a0 I would receive \u201call the information needed to claim the funds\u2026as soon as (I) indicate (my) interest in assisting them (and) providing my address, phone number, and fax number.\u201d\u00a0 Mr. Alfred\u2019s offer charges into contention.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m now reading an email from Capt. Kevin Savimbi, formerly in the engineering military unit in Angola.\u00a0 Presumably, this Savimbi is not related to the deceased revolutionary or he would have immediately trumpeted so.\u00a0 Instead, Capt. Savimbi is as succinct as any fine engineer, in the first sentence declaring, \u201cI have about $55 Million US dollars\u2026secured in Benin Republic that I want to move out of Africa.\u00a0 I need a good partner, someone I can trust.\u00a0 It is legal money.\u201d\u00a0 The captain requires only that I come at once to Cotonou, The Republic of Benin so \u201cwe can sign an agreement before we commence at once to send it to a bank of (my) choice.\u201d\u00a0 When I receive the funds, I\u2019d take my half and he\u2019d take his.<\/p>\n
On my computer screen I\u2019m already booking the convoluted series of flights necessary to go from California to the West African nation of Benin, near Nigeria.\u00a0 Imagine having $27.5 Million USD.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired of a middle class income.\u00a0 I\u2019m coming, Capt. Savimbi.\u00a0 Don\u2019t give this offer to someone less deserving.\u00a0 My flights to and from Benin will be processed in a jiffy.\u00a0 Only to sooth myself am I reading Joy Wilford\u2019s email on another computer screen.\u00a0 Mrs. Wilford explained she \u201c(is) married to Mr. Franklyn Wilford who worked with the Netherlands embassy in London for ten years before he died in the year 2001.\u201d\u00a0 His death ended a marriage that had endured \u201cfor eleven years without a child.\u201d\u00a0 Mr. Wilford expired after a \u201cbrief illness that lasted for only four days.\u00a0 Before his death (they) were both born again Christians.\u00a0 When (her) husband was alive \u2013 (thankfully he didn\u2019t do so when dead) \u2013 he deposited the sum of $10.5 Million USD with the Baclays (sic) Bank London,\u201d where the money still rests.<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, Mrs. Wilford would be in a delightful position but recently her doctor told her she \u201cwould not last for the next four months due to cancer problem.\u201d\u00a0 She is even more aggrieved by her stroke.\u00a0 Due to her condition, she has decided to donate her money to a church or \u201ca Christian individual that will utilize this money\u2026to fund orphanages, research centers and widows propagating the Word of God and to ensure that the house of God is Maintained.\u00a0 The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth.\u201d\u00a0 The childless Mrs. Wilford cannot leave the money to her late husband\u2019s relatives since they are not Christians and she doesn\u2019t want her \u201chusband\u2019s hard earned money to be misused by Unbelievers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Understandably, she cannot receive any phone calls due to her health and the lurking presence of her husband\u2019s greedy relatives.\u00a0 I must therefore contact her attorney for the necessary banking arrangements.\u00a0 I realize that both honor and a contract would bind me to spend the money in a selfless and charitable way.\u00a0 You can trust me, Mrs. Joy Wilford.\u00a0 I accept your offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Only yesterday did I realize how harsh and mistrusting I\u2019d been.\u00a0 Only then did I understand I should have helped in December 2004 when I received an urgent email from Mrs. Rita Savimbi, wife of heroic Angolan revolutionary and guerilla leader Jonas Savimbi.\u00a0 The erudite Mr. Savimbi, who lyrically spoke seven languages, dedicated forty years…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,172,173],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n