“Barry Diawadou Leader of Guinean Independance. Executed at Camp Boiro in 1969″ via a screenshot from the video, Camp Boiro: 45 years later on YouTube The state-backed history of Guinea is selective in who it remembers and forgets, meaning that important historical figures who were not loyal to the dictatorship established after independence and still in place nearly sixty years later seldom get the lip service they deserve from the country's leadership. On national holidays not one word is uttered in commemoration of Barry Diawadou, or Barry Ibrahima, also known as Barry III. Neither does the state recognise many of the others who lie in graves, whose locations are unknown even to their relatives, that it slandered, arrested, expropriated, tortured and finally killed. No attempt has been made to rehabilitate these heroes posthumously and recognise their achievements in the independence struggle, and yet their executioners are praised often enough. Barry Diawadou and Barry Ibrahima were leaders of the Guinean Independence before they fell victim to Sékou Touré's predatory post-independence regime. Sékou Touré was elected as the first President of Guinea, serving from 1958 to his death in 1984. He imprisoned or exiled his strongest opposition leaders. It is estimated that 50,000 people were killed under his regime. Diawadou in particular, stands as compelling figure in the country's exit from colonialism. A graduate of the department of Administration at the Ecole Normale William Ponty de Gorée, Diawadou served in World War II and obtained the rank of chief sergeant. He was elected several times as a member of the French National Assembly. In an article published on the website “La Plume Plus”, Mody Boubakar Diallo writes: Il fut le premier leader guinéen à donner le mot d’ordre à ses militants de voter ‘’ Non’’ au référendum proposé par le général De Gaulle, en vue d’une indépendance de la Guinée. Par ailleurs, il fut le premier leader à renoncer à tous les avantages dont il bénéficiait auprès de la France à savoir: Sa pension d’ancien combattant, ses biens matériels, sa pension de député à l’assemblée nationale française, sa nationalité française, tout ceci dans le seul but de favoriser l’accession de son pays à l’indépendance totale par patriotisme. En plus de tout cela, en 1959, quelques mois après l’indépendance, il refusera fermement l’offre de la France , de mettre à sa disposition de l’argent et une armée, pour un vote en faveur du « oui » évitant ainsi un bain de sang à son peuple. A noter que Barry Diawadou sauva de justesse le président Sékou Touré en lui recommandant de refuser de monter dans l’avion militaire devant le conduire à Dakar. La raison était très simple, les français voulaient le larguer en haute mer après son discours du 25 août 1958 à De Gaulle. He was the first Guinean leader to call on his supporters to vote “no” in the referendum proposed by General De Gaulle [on membership of the French Community]. Moreover, he was the first leader to renounce all the benefits he was entitled to from France, namely his veteran's pension, his property, his salary as a member of the French National Assembly, and his French nationality; all for the sole purpose of promoting the transformation of his country towards full independence through patriotism. In 1959, some months after independence, he flatly refused France's offer to put at his disposal a salary and army in exchange for a “yes” vote, thus avoiding bloodshed for his people. [Ed:The referendum requested by France asked whether, after independence, Guinea would wish to remain within a newly formed francophone commonwealth]. It should also be noted that Barry Diawadou narrowly saved President Sékou Touré by advising him not to board a military aircraft bound for Dakar. The reason [for his advice] was simple, the French wanted to throw [Touré] out over the sea after his speech on August 25, 1958, addressed to De Gaulle. In his book entitled Guinée, Le temps de Fripouilles (English: Guinea, The Era of Buggers) Sako Kondé praises Diawadou's integrity and recalls an exchange between him and Touré during those turbulent times: Un homme d’une honnêteté intellectuelle et d’un sens du bien public exemplaires. Certains ont pu dire de lui qu’il était « trop droit pour réussir en politique ». C’est sans doute, vrai… Beaucoup d’entre eux se souviennent de cette entrevue qu’il eut avec Sékou Touré à la veille du référendum : celui-ci vint le trouver pour lui dire en substance : « Le sort de la Guinée est entre tes mains ; tout dépendra de toi” A man of true intellectual honesty and an exemplary sense of public good. Some could say he was “too honest to succeed in politics”.