Introduction
1) A Plea for British Honour
Information is sought by former British Government senior civil servant Harold Smith (Nigeria 1955-1960) regarding British treason, including the rigging of Nigeria's Independence Elections, circa 1960.
British officials served with great honour and distinction in Nigeria. This African giant was governed superbly by a small number of dedicated public servants, who often made personal sacrifices in the course of their duties under very trying conditions. (Harold Smith was struck down by a rare tropical disease in 1960). This fine and truly splendid record of service by British officials was sullied at Independence by Whitehall treachery, which destroyed the careful nurturing of democracy in Nigeria and blighted Nigeria's future. The potentially great African democracy was doomed by these squalid machinations to a future of military coups, assassinations and the horrendous Biafran Civil War, which cost, says the UN, two million lives.
Sadly, many old Nigeria hands, whose great contributions were largely ignored by historians, have died. Others have recoiled in horror from Nigeria's ghastly history since 1960. Yet it needs to be proclaimed that British officials need feel no shame for their nation building prior to the tragically flawed Independence. The historical record of British achievements prior to Independence has been blighted by subsequent events. We need to assess objectively what went wrong at Independence (largely as a consequence of treasonable political interference from Westminster) in order that the sterling contribution of British officials may be recorded for posterity.
Permission to publish this material was sought and granted by the Cabinet Office and D-Notice Committee, subject to an agreement that no Secret Service officials should be named. May I request correspondents to respect my obligation in this matter and to kindly withhold such personal details. Cabinet Office letters of March/April 1993, reference A093/927/1152/1281, and Ministry of Defence letter DM/1712/DPBC of 13 January 1993 refer.
2) Blindness
My husband was diagnosed with acute glaucoma in October 1998. We feared blindness, and my husband was treated with drops and laser operations. Stress can play a vital role in the development of glaucoma, and the onset of this very dangerous eye disease is directly elated to the exposure of British evil in Nigeria at Independence, and later which was to take the lives of three million innocent Nigerian Commonwealth citizens.
Earlier in 1998 we had launched our website to publish this dreadful British State secret. In 1960 the Governor General of Nigeria threatened my husband's life. He made it clear that if we ever published the fact that the British Government rigged the Nigerian Independence Elections so that the victorious nationalists were declared the losers, my husband's life would be forfeit. We had hoped that New Labour's victory at the 1997 General Election would mean a change of Government policy towards us. Sadly, we were cruelly disappointed and Robin Cook repeated the lies put out by previous Governments.
No British Government can ever justify the treatment my husband has received for taking a stand for democracy and the rule of law. I feared he would lose his sight as a direct consequence of this mass murder in Africa. We determined to do our utmost to build my husband up with protein and a massive intake of vitamins and minerals. Incredibly, our efforts may have contributed to the worst effects of this disease being avoided. After a gruelling six months of a determined struggle and close co-operation with eye specialists, Harold's sight seems to have been saved.