Every social media savvy Nigerian understands Linda Ikeji, or must know her, and it is practically impossible to have a discussion centred on online media in Nigeria without her name turning up, one way or another.By embodying that renowned Nigerian can-do mindset, ex-model Linda prospered in making her name a referral point whenever people in consider an effective news website. For this lady from modest beginnings, beginning a blog when her modelling career began to unwind was something to do, for the love of it, never for money. This was some 6+ years ago. Now, with the majority of the better-known business organisations in Nigeria vying for advert space on her blog site, Linda’s enthusiasm has turned her into Nigeria’s premier blog writer, and richest, by far.Over the years, Linda has set patterns, affected federal government policy and gave Nigerians loads of things to talk about. Fearing what a negative exposé on her blog would do their image or careers, stars of all kinds gravitated to her, and Linda, whose modelling career would never ever be stated to be that high flying, became a celebrity, and got to rub shoulders with those who declare ownership of the flashy world of glamour.
Maintaining a humble mien, Linda, initially, didn’t appear to care much about all the glamour, but she did remember how far she had actually come and never ever stopped working to tell the world how she moved from not having a thousand Naira in her bank account a couple of years ago to getting to where she is today: all from having and consistently publishing on her basic style blogspot site, from the convenience of her bedroom.As part of an interview panel a few weeks earlier, I heard interviewees gush about just how much they admire Linda’s work principles and her capability to catch and own a sector. ‘She’s so great, she makes her blogging seem like talking with your friends,’ one remarkable ambitious author gushed when asked what she thinks is the Linda Ikeji magic. I agreed with her. I believe Linda Ikeji is remarkable, in her consistency. As someone who desires the writer tag, I understand firsthand how tough staying on track is.Advertisement
Some weeks back, Linda published that she had acquired a brand name new Range Rover 4X4 and social media went abuzz. Many individuals wondered if costs 24 million on one vehicle makes sense, especially if you currently have two great cars and trucks in a nation where (as the IMF can’t stop telling the world) the average individual subsists on less than a dollar a day. However, there were those who felt it was a good relocation: a grand announcement that the blog writer had actually signed up with the world of the extremely rich.Linda Ikeji shows off her wheels. Photo: Linda Ikeji’s Blog
Perhaps it was the interest generated by the purchase, but Nigerian social networks stays abuzz. Not with the news of the very vehicle, but around something that has dodged the woman’s heels for several years: the question of what numerous view as her widespread plagiarism.Now, you ‘d need to go to Linda’s blog to better understand her style, however the reality is that, usually, beyond the 2 liners she adds, she can’t claim ownership to the majority of the content. In the new age of extremely fast breaking news and millions of individual blogs, copying and pasting is becoming more rampant and, in places such as Nigeria, is incorrectly being perceived as the norm.As quickly as the twitter furore over Linda’s recent use of someone’s product without attribution or permission began on October 4 2014, a great deal of people quickly got on her case.22/ 32 Despite making 10s of thousands of US$ each month from her site, @LindaIkeji selects to willfully neglect ALL copyright holders,- Mr. Aye Dee (@MrAyeDee) October 5, 2014
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Linda Ikeji steals short articles and is termed effective. If you call her out, it’s beef. This is why politicians take our wealth & are hailed.- Ikenna Ronald Nzimora (@ronaldnzimora) October 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/sugabelly/status/518772004540153856But, Linda is not without her fans: I don’t think in ‘haters’. I don’t believe it’s disliking. I just think it’s a rejection to accept her legitimacy. But it is there, strong.- Chude Jideonwo (@Chude) October 4, 2014Advertisement
Leave Linda Ikeji alone. Start your own blog site. Run it the method you want. Then purchase your own Range Rover.- Ohimai Amaize (@MrFixNigeria) October 4, 2014
When all is said and done, the fact will remain as glaring as it is basic: The internet is seriously challenging the existing copyright laws and the sheer number of violations makes most efforts at persecution a very tall order. However, the truth also mentions rights and wrongs: Stealing someone’s intellectual property is wrong and earning a profit out of it is even worse.As I have actually stated in the past, most content owners are OK with others utilizing part of their work (with attribution and a link back to the original source) but are unhappy with the copy and paste journalists who think it is fair play to occupy their websites with contents that are the fruit of somebody’s intense labour.Advertisement
I won’t declare to be saintish. No one is. And I am sure there are numerous ways to excuse Linda’s supposed disobediences, however those reasons fade in the light of the oft-repeated assertion that she neglects people who try to contact her when she infringes on their copyright.That’s too bad. For someone who is an inspiration to numerous young people here, she needs to understand that there is significant distinction between a news release and an IP. For a news release, most content owners will more than happy that it is being reposted throughout the web. As an incentive and function design, Linda requires to begin teaching those who admire her that a piece like the one you read, as unappealing as it might appear, is somebody’s child and like many infants, you need to ask the parent for approval before you take them on a journey far from home. And after, let me understand where my infant is and how far she’s travelled by sending a message back home, with a track back.She requires to reveal that beyond the buzz, she can up her video game and set the right kind of standards.