Description
When a Nigerian-born doctor in America caught a ride to New Jersey with a colleague, he had no idea that the ride would culminate not in a physical destination but in interception by the FBI, who had been investigating the colleague for his involvment in federal crimes. What followed was a years-long battle with the law as he attempted to rise from his disadvantaged position and prove his innocence. He was David and the U.S. government was Goliath, and he was in for the battle of a lifetime—a battle he had to win.
Tracing his origins in the slums of Lagos to his years of academic excellence, eventual doctorate in medicine from a United States college, and his incarceration for a crime he knew nothing about, Once Upon a Life details the turning point in Frank Fashina's life that sent him back to Nigeria as he fled the law and his attempts to rebuild both his personal and professional lives. His search for opportunities in systems and societies with long-held prejudices against color, race, tribe and creed are explored, as is his return to the United States to face the law and fight for his American-born wife and children, who could not survive the hardships in his home country. Once Upon a Life is the story of a true survivor, who clawed his way up from the bottom and refused to let his struggles define him.