Be patient, Sir Alec told the Nigerians; don’t shoot the pianist, we’re doing our best to settle Southern Rhodesia. The Nigerians were reported to be puzzled. No wonder: counselling patience on racial issues to nationalists is like advising a hungry man not to let his stomach rumble.
Southern Rhodesia’s future has become a major issue, and if it hadn’t been for Cyprus would have rocked the United Nations by now. Like Cyprus, it offers the world a problem for which there is no just solution, apart from human tolerance and goodwill, as much to be looked for as an oyster-bed in the Sahara. Both sides are right, neither will yield because they cannot and, with an election looming, poor Sir Alec is supposed to find a way out.
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