Sly Edaghese

The President's Daughter Sly Edaghese

Little Aishat came of school-age at a very wrong time. As a result, she lost the opportunity of treading the footpath of her siblings in going to the United States of America to begin her elementary education. The problem was her father, the president. A three-star General in the Nigerian Army, Aishat's father, following what has now become a pastime within the military hierarchy whenever the urge to rule grips them, had ordered out tanks to over-run the democratically elected government of the day. The take-over was bloody, ending the lives of the incumbent president, his vice and several ministers in the cabinet. Incensed by the bestiality occasioned by the coup, the American government had the new junta blacklisted, declaring the chief coupist, Aishat's father, and his cohorts, as well as all members of their immediate family as non grata in the U. S. For Aishat, it was a case of a child bearing the iniquity of her father. With her dream of going to the U. S. now shattered, what other options remain for her in her quest for an American education?