Page 242 - harryDEC12_clean.iba
P. 242

“I’m an intimate acquaintance of president General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, and in his name I’m active in the oil industry. You’ve read my offer? We want only to insure the loss in the case of an embargo - $US 10 million a month!”
Said the prince. Ten million dollars a month!? I scratched my head. Only if they accepted a cancellation period of three months could I imagine finding a Market.
“Yes, I believe it’s representable, if we can limit the time frame and issue a "roll over policy, but the premium would be about 2% per month, payable in advance.”
“I had calculated on more. Try a six-month cancellation period with rollover – I’ll pay 3%.”
I was perplexed. The Prince had made his own calculations and he seemed to understand the trade. He offered me jasmine tea, which I was grateful to accept in my state.
“If you arrange the deal, at your next visit I’ll show you the nightlife of Brooklyn. You don’t have to worry, nobody will touch a hair on your head, and there are some exotic beauties here too, who will be waiting for you - high class I mean. I am, so to say, the godfather in this area.”
We took a hearty leave of each other and Amadi drove me back to my hotel safely. A few days later I negotiated the contract with a befriended insurer in Paris. We quickly came to an agreement, and I succeeded in reaching a six-month cancellation period for a premium of fewer than 3%. The Prince was highly pleased when he received the written confirmation and spontaneously invited me to Brooklyn, but my need to experience that area of New York was satisfied for the moment. I said I was too busy. The shipments took place as foreseen from October on, and the lucrative contract lasted more than two years, much to the astonishment of my colleagues.
"Harry, you get along well with black princes. Must be because you’re German. Make a black princess next time, okay?”
They said.
"Sometimes it helps when you’ve not been in the slave trade,”
I answered laconically.
Two years later the inquiries came to an end, and I never again heard of Prince Oghenekohwo. That is how it often was in the business of ‘political risks”. People came, and then disappeared, seldom from natural courses. Meanwhile money was earned.
oOo
241


































































































   240   241   242   243   244