This story about love, evil, sacrifice and betrayal, is set in a Nigerian village where a man and his two wives and daughter live. They are a happy family of farmers who respect their village traditions. As the title suggests, the story line is centered on the relationship between the father and his daughter Nnumwa–a close pair who share a special song that praises each other. The father’s verse of the song talks about the love a father has for his child and how that child is especially precious because she is seen as ‘the only palm nut in the fire’ or in other words an only child. Nnumwa’s verse in the song, praises a father who loves his daughter unconditionally and without reservation.The twist in the plot comes when Nnumwa’s father lures her to an untimely death with a song. She is killed by the father who loved her so much. The father is driven to murder by his second younger wife, who does not want to share her husband with any other woman even if it was a daughter. Her vaulting ambition does not stop there, as she plots to oust the first wife. After Nnumwa’s death, her mother,the first wife, is beside herself with grief.  The villagers, however, think that Nnumwa has been kidnapped by people in a rival village. The riveting conclusion sees Nnumwa’s restless spirit come to her mother in the form of a singing bird. It reveals the shocking secret that Nnumwa was killed by her father as a result of his second wife’s jealousy and manipulation. This revelation pushes the father to commit suicide at the same place where Nnumwa lies.