In Addis Ababa, during the Inaugural Conference of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia sat Wachuku down in the presence of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and begged Balewa to plead with Wachuku to accept that the Togolese government be admitted to take part in that first OAU Conference. Wachuku jokingly reminded Emperor Haile Selassie and Prime Minister Balewa that, as Foreign Minister, he was only number three in the Nigerian Government, and that coup plotters go for numbers one and two – President or Head of State and Prime Minister. Wachuku added that by the time coup makers got to number three, he would be resting in his village.