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The cover of the
proposal was in blue and silver with the Prentino logo in the centre: Eduardo
had that changed to green and white, the national colours of Nigeria, with the
national emblem of an eagle astride two horses: he realised it was the little
things that impressed generals and often tipped the scales. He sent ten copies
of the feasibility study to Nigeria’s Head of State with an invoice for one
million dollars.
    When General Mohammed had studied the proposal
he invited Eduardo de Silveira to visit Nigeria as his guest, in order to
discuss the next stage of the project. De Silveira telexed back, provisionally
accepting the invitation, and pointing out politely but firmly that he had not
yet received reimbursement for the one million dollars spent on the initial feasibility
study. The money was telexed by return from the Central Bank of Nigeria and de
Silveira managed to find four consecutive days in his diary for “The New
Federal Capital project”: his schedule demanded that he arrived in Lagos on a
Monday morning because he had to be in Paris at the latest by the Thursday
night.
    While these thoughts were going through
Eduardo’s mind, the Mercedes drew up outside Dodan Barracks. The iron gates
swung open and a full armed guard gave the general salute, an honour normally
afforded only to a visiting Head of State. The black Mercedes drove slowly
through the gates and came to a halt outside the President’s private residence.
A brigadier waited on the steps to escort de Silveira through to the President.
    The two men had lunch together in a small
room that closely resembled a British officers’ mess. The meal con-sisted of a
steak, that would not have been acceptable to any South American cowhand
surrounded by vegetables that reminded Eduardo of his schooldays.
    Still, Eduardo had never yet met a soldier
who understood that a good chef was every bit as important as a good barman.
During the lunch they talked in overall terms about the problems of building a
whole new city in the middle of an equatorial jungle.
    The provisional estimate of the cost of the
project had been one thousand million dollars but de Silveira warned the
President that the final outcome might well end up nearer three thousand
million dollars the President’s jaw dropped slightly. De Silveira had to admit
that the project would be the most ambitious that Prentino International had
ever tackled, but he was quick to point out to the President that the same would
be true of any construction company in the world.
    De Silveira, not a man to play his best card
early, waited until the coffee to slip into the conversation that he had just
been awarded, against heavy opposition (that had included Rodrigues), the contract
to build an eight-lane highway through the Amazonian jungle, which would
eventually link up with the Pan-American highway, a contract second in size
only to the one they were now contemplating in Nigeria. The President was
impressed and inquired if the venture would not prevent de Silveira involving
himself in the new capital project.
    “I’ll know the answer to that question in
three days’ time,” replied the Brazilian, and undertook to have a further
discussion with the Head of State at the end of his visit when he would let him
know if he was prepared to continue with the scheme.
    After lunch Eduardo was driven to the
Federal Palace Hotel where the entire sixth floor had been placed at his
disposal. Several complaining guests who had come to Nigeria to close deals
involving mere millions had been asked to vacate their rooms at short notice to
make way for de Silveira and his staff. Eduardo knew nothing of these goings
on, as there was always a room available for him wherever he arrived in the
world.
    The six Mercedes drew up outside the hotel
and the colonel guided his charge through the swing doors and past reception.
Eduardo had not checked himself into a hotel for the past fourteen years except
on those occasions when he