Boom Town Legacy - Tales from Nibana, #4

Boom Town Legacy is a story about the corrosive effects of corruption on a young man new to the ways of 1960s post-colonial Africa. In 1967 Charlie Robinson is tasked to open a new branch for the company in the swampy delta region of Nibana in West Africa, where oil has recently been discovered. New to the ways of Africa, Charlie struggles to come to terms with the tribalism, nepotism and, above all, the corruption that confronts him on all sides. Despite all the difficulties and setbacks, he eventually succeeds and the business thrives, but civil war looms and soon all Charlie's efforts are undone by a single incident. He survives the devastation and ponders on his future when an opportunity to make himself comfortably rich suddenly presents itself. Having put together a plan, Charlie embarks on a long journey through Africa to cover his tracks. He eventually ends up in Europe where he uses the secrecy imbedded in the banking system to his advantage. After some months he returns to a different part of Africa and eventually makes his way to Ian Smith's rebel Rhodesia, where he hopes to settle down to a quiet, anonymous and newly married life as a tobacco farmer. However, an incident at his farm initiates a period of extreme pressure on Charlie and as tragedy strikes his life disintegrates and his past begins to catch up with him.