Re: The Poet Lied
Could it be true that a 400-level student of Literature from this distinguished Department of English Language, Tola Adegbite, lied? Can she truly be a LIAR? Do not rush, just keep reading.
Though, I was not taught to disrespect elders nor was I tutored to embarrass elders. I was basically taught not to keep quiet when people are defamed, I was not told to fight-dirt but to argue intellectually.
I don’t know who you are, TOLA ADEGBITE, but I am ashamed I have you as a senior colleague. I know a few senior colleagues – Jamaz, Oga Innocent, Madam NCB E-I-C and Adebimpe among others – and they are worthy to be associated with. On this note, I tender my sincere apology to all FYB, who are students of honour and integrity. I salute you all; your contributions during congresses have really shown that you are not likely to be in the same category with the writer of the defaming article, TOLA ADEGBITE.
To the main issue, I cannot imagine you as a critic; neither will I accept that you are a poet. Of course, you cannot be a journalist; you don’t posses the features of that highly placed profession. But when did you become an investigative “person”?
YOUR ACCUSATIONS AGAINST OPEYEMI OYEHAN (A PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT IN NASELS) IS DEFAMATORY, UNPROFESSIONAL AND AN EMBARRASSMENT TO LITERATIS.
Funny you!!! You attempted to define plagiarism using the dictionary? Yes, the dictionary is right, but it is more than that. Plagiarism is broader than what you mentioned!! If you are not convinced, I challenge you, TOLA ADEGBITE, to a public debate on DEFAMATION, COPYRIGHT, PLAGIARISM, and related topics. I tender no apology for the invitation, if that will make others learn and avoid similar careless but intentional act of defamation.
It is unfair for anyone to defame another just because you want to be noticed or for any reason best known to the “defamer” (That’s you; remember your name is included in the title of this article). Intellectuals don’t make noise, their works speak for them. Their character and attitude give them the necessary image that is needed.
In your DEFAMATORY write-up, you allegedly faulted OPEYEMI OYEHAN (A PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT IN NASELS) emergence as the winner of a poetry competition, claiming that his poem, “ If I am a Love Poet” was similar to Rudy Francisco’s poem, titled, “If I was a Love Poem.” In your pre-matured arguments that followed, you described the act as plagiarism because it was not acknowledged to Francisco.
This is exactly what got me bothered. How dear you call that plagiarism when you did not research well. Having realized that he modeled the poem after that of Francisco, OPEYEMI acknowledged Francisco. He categorically stated in his biography on the same website, where you got the poem from, that ‘If I am a love poet' is an adaptation of Rudy Francisco's Love poem.
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE BIOGRAPGHY - file:///C:/Users/CSTOMER%20PC/Documents/The%20biography%20of%20Oyehan%20Opeyemi%20Akinkunmi.htm OR http://www.poemhunter.com/oyehan-opeyemi-akinkunmi/biography/
If opened on an electronic device, the link reads, “Oyehan A. Opeyemi is blessed to a noble educationist and His wife, Mr & Mrs Oyehan. Born as the first child and the only male child to his mother, in 1990. He has three kid sisters. He started pre-primary education in 1994. He attended numerous institutions during his primary and secondary tenure, which aided his love for creativities such as poem-writing, drama and fictions. He started writing at age 8 and wrote his first poem at age 13 'African beauty'. He loves kid and would be sad seeing children suffer because of government's refusal to serve the people fairly and justly; thus He gained interest in writing poems to correct the inadequacies of the people in power; as in his poems 'In my dream', 'Merry-go-round'. 'IF I AM A LOVE POET', AN ADAPTATION OF RUDY FRANCISCO'S LOVE POEM MEDLEY, IS A PERFORMANCE POEM. He also loves teaching. He is currently working on his new fiction that would be out soon.”
You also mentioned that the organizers of the contest stated that entries should be the original work of the contestant. Two members of the organizing committee in a dialogue at the departmental lobby yesterday said it was basically A PERFORMANCE POETRY.
This (the above point you raised in paragraph four of your write-up) shows that you may not probably know the difference between originality and adaptation.
If you adapt a literary piece or allude from another author, does that mean that the work is not original? And if you say the tittles are similar, does that means that great men of the pen and respected writers, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Late Chinua Achebe had engaged in plagiarism when they both chose “ABIKU” as the title of one of their poems? If that is not enough, does it mean that ‘The Gods Are Not To Blame” is not an original work because it is adapted from “Sophocles”? I won’t explain how originality and adaption could be linked to a parody (Check - Amatorisero Ede’s “The Skinned’s Lord Prayer”), so that I won’t be tagged as what I am not in the department. Senior colleagues, I mean the real persons of honour, please feel free to approach me if I am wrong, I will like to learn more from you.
I won’t join others to blame you for releasing your write-up late; evil can be exposed at anytime. You have the right to unveil evil at any period to avoid damages. But just as evil can be exposed at anytime, mistakes can be made at any time too, the most important thing is to accept your errors, learn from it and sincerely apologise. Your last paragraph sounds political, but I will not like to comment on that because of the image of those in the presidential race but will like to tell you that NASELSITES are not fools, they don't need to be decieved (by you); they know who is worthy to have their votes. …..Time will tell………….
FROM AND ON BEHALF OF MY HUMBLE SELF: MU’SODIQ ADEKUNLE…... ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FALCULTY OF ART, OAU. soddickfresher@yahoo.com
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
0 comments:
Post a Comment