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I am angry
and I am hungry and I am in Hungary.
I am mad at Nduka Obaigbana’s editors or whoever is in charge of the news
department. How could they treat me like Obasanjo and his ilk treat Nigerians –
open disrespect? Yes it’s the way I see it. ThisDay newspaper may be the best
in Nigeria
but for now I care less. Its owner and contributors may have travelled all over
the world like Ajala; they must not see it as a licence to look at other
writers with unmistakable contempt.
Now let me
give you the gist of it. On February 11, 2008, ThisDay newspaper published a
news story about a Nigerian in Hungary
who romances Adolf Hitler, a German politician who remained a totalitarian
ruler until his suicide in 1945. It was captioned: “For praising Hitler, Nigerian
risks jail time in Hungary”.
This acclaimed reputable newspaper did not credit the author of the article.
This isn’t
the first time that major Nigerian newspapers would download articles from the
leading Nigerian website magazines like nigeriavillagesquare.com,
naijaviewpoints.com, chatafrikarticles.com, gamji.com, pointblanknews.com but
at least they do credit the authors – most of the time. So downloading without
consent of the authors is not even the issue here.
Newspapers
like the Champion, The Triumph, Daily Trust, BusinessDay, NewAge, and many
others are fond of reproducing opinion articles without prior consent of the
authors. There was a time I alerted Sabella Abidde whose article was published
inside the Champion without his by-line. Of course I had already read the
article in question on the village square and chatafrik.
This is
ironic in the sense that if the authors had specifically sent their articles to
these newspapers, such articles would likely be discarded. Although this is a
further testimony that the website magazines and writers are leading the way, I
am not happy with the reckless disposition in which certain Nigerian editors
treat internet authors. At least if you don’t pay us, credit us.
Thisday
has portrayed itself as a rich and stylish newspaper over the year with its
annual awards and scintillating wit even though I never enjoyed reading its
online version especially because of its paragraph less articles. A newspaper
that invites world leaders and politicians and business tycoons cannot be
described as a complete novice in the publishing business.
Thereupon
I expect much professionalism from ThisDay newspaper. I want to believe that
the management knows what plagiarism is. If not, then I offer to state it here.
It is an idea, phrase, or story that has been copied from another person’s
work, without stating where it came from. Or is the internet writings not
protected by copyright? Recently Shoko Loko Bangoshe in his usual satire
discussed about what he termed, Intellectual
Property Over Internet Protocol.
Money have
I none but my writings I cherish. I believe I have paid my due, thanks to the
internet web publishing without which most of us would still be chasing the
shadow of getting published in the Nigerian newspapers. We would still be at
their mercy. Many writers definitely know what I am rambling about.
Moreover,
almost all the African websites extracted the article in question from ThisDay.
For instance, AllAfrica.com published it in its website – without my by-line.
Who knows, someone somewhere might have read the article and wanted to contact
me – either for a jumbo contract or other highly significant reasons. BBC or
CNN for example could have seen the article and wanted to contact me for an
exclusive interview. See, I am dreaming big.
What a
bubbling moment and opportunity I had missed simply because ThisDay newspaper
failed to use my by-line. In view of this, I am appealing to our learned men
and women to take up my case against this powerful medium called ThisDay
newspaper. Honestly speaking, I am tired of this Oyinbo land and I need
a sufficiency of raw materials – for resettlement.
Such
wilful behaviour from establishment like ThisDay often makes me absolutely
livid. It should be noted that I had specifically written the story for The
Nation newspaper. It was published on Sunday February 10, 2008 under
“Periscope”. How would the editor of the Sunday Nation feel if on Monday he saw
the same article on ThisDay newspaper?
This is
the main reason why I wrote to the editor@thisdayonline.com
on Tuesday February 12, 2008. I am still waiting for his candid reply. My
letter is reproduced here:
Dear
Sir,
I am
writing to register my disappointment over my article, "Nigerian in
trouble for praising Hitler" in which you changed to "for praising
Hitler, Nigerian risks jail time", and published on the online version of
your reputable newspaper February 11 2008.
First I
do not know why you failed to credit the article with my by-line. I think it is
unfair on me to just download my write-up without including my name - the
author.
The
said article was specifically written for a Nigerian newspaper, The Nation
which was published on Sunday edition (February
10 2008) under the caption "Periscope".
Of
course this is not the first time that some Nigerian newspapers would
download my articles without my knowledge, but at least they do include my name
whenever they do. As you know this is important to some authors, for money
is not everything. But name is.
Regards,
Hakeem
Babalola
Budapest, Hungary
Copyright
2008 mysmallvoice@yahoo.com
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 20.02.2008 10:44