Rejoinder over accusations of plagiarism by Arakunrin Ajelogbon

REJOINDER!!!

My attention has been drawn to a post by Mr. Rasheed Adebiyi where he accused me of plagiarism.

I had earlier made a post in which I called the attention of the Governor of Osun State to the need to create a public relations platform to enable periodic interaction with the people of the state. In that post, I cited examples of similar platforms created by various past administrations in the state like Chief Bisi Akande’s Labeodan, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s Gbagede Oro (Open Forum) and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s Ogbeni till Daybreak for Governor Oyetola to emulate.

But I was shocked when Mr. Adebiyi, whom I respect so much, sent me a private message alleging that I stole his “idea” because he made a similar recommendation on a radio programme before my post. He also said he had a team of researchers who had worked on the recommendation.

Anybody who is conversant with governance in Osun State from 1999 is aware of these public fora used by the mentioned past governors during their different tenures. To set the record straight, I was not a child during those periods. So it is laughable to assert a matter of public knowledge as your idea.

I would have let Mr. Adebiyi’s post slide because of the respect I have for him. But his attempt at assassinating my character and tarnishing the image of my media outlet is too serious to let go.

For emphasis, I did not plagiarize any intellectual property belonging to Mr. Rasheed Adebiyi.

I therefore challenge him to approach a competent court of law to enforce his right to any intellectual property on what I posted if he has a genuine claim rather than seeking cheap attention on social media.

Nevertheless, I respect Mr. Adebiyi and I shall continue to hold him in high esteem as a brother and a colleague in the media.

Thanks.

Arakunrin Ajelogbon Demoon