The novel is set in “a backward West African state called Kangan,” and concerns three English-educated friends who, after a military coup, abruptly find themselves in the roles of President, Commissioner of information and Editor of the nation’s principal newspaper -- and are friends no longer. His Excellency, called Sam by his old classmates Chris Oriko and Ikem Osodi, has surrounded himself with a ludicrous executive council, “a solid wall of court jesters,” one of whom, the attorney-general, proclaims, “We have no problem worshipping a man like you.” He insinuates that Chris, the commissioner for information, is not “one hundred percent behind you.” Added to Sam’s fear of betrayal is his anger at the failure of Abazon Province, the home of his classmate Ikem, to approve a referendum to make him president-for-life. And now, as the novel opens, a delegation from a village in the province has come to demand help for their drought-stricken land. “Your greatest risk,” says the Attorney-General, “is your boyhood friends, those who grew up with you in your village.”