Dr Alabo Halliday was Minister of Coal in the newly independent African country Atamgba. Some said he was haughty, others that he was aloof or shy. But everyone agreed he was brilliant, and that he did all he did for his love Atamgba. His first victim was Mr Schaffer, the Belgian managing director of the Atamgba Coal Corporation, who had contemptuously called Dr Halliday the Black Minister. Dr Halliday is removed from his ministerial post following a coup d'etat by the new military president, General Ango Buba, his cabinet colleague. Four years after he left office Dr Alabo Halliday is charged to court with corruptly causing the nation economic difficulty. It was the conscience of the nation that was on trial.