So begins Susan Rice’s recollection of her ill-fated meeting with M.K.O. Abiola on July 7, 1998. At the time, Rice, an American, was nine months into her job as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Together with Tom Pickering and Bill Twaddell, she was part of a US delegation of diplomats tasked with discussing Nigeria’s return to democracy. The story of how she served Abiola his last cup of tea has made it into the annals of urban legend and beer parlour gist. Here is her own account of the...