VODEC Executive Director’s Shameless Plagiarism
Posted by By Akogun Akomolafe at 29 November, at 11 : 34 AM Print
Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/alaye/public_html/wp-content/themes/Video/single_blog.php on line 46
Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/alaye/public_html/wp-content/themes/Video/single_blog.php on line 56
VODEC Executive Director’s Shameless Plagiarism
Femi Akomolafe
I have lamented several in my writings that the ethical values which used to be part of our African cultures has ebbed to the point of nonexistent.
What is even more lamentable is that many of us that pillory our officials for corruption, do not even observe even the most elementary of honesty. We do not hold ourselves to the same standards of ethics that we denounce.
How do we explain the situation whereby the Executive Director of Voice Of Developing Communities (VODEC), an organisation that claim to be interested in community development, Mr. Thomas Abroni Thomas, going to town with an article I wrote, signed it off with his name, email address and telephone number.
The article is still online at these links:
- http://comment.peacefmonline.com/pages/press_releases/201311/181587.php?storyid=100#commentsread
- http://www.ghananation.com/news/26239-our-leaders-are-treating-us-like-conquered-slaves-vodec.html
It is difficult for me to understand how any thinking person can choose this highly unethical route to garner fame.
Abroni Thomas shamelessly COPIED my published article without even the courtesy of acknowledgement.
The article was published in my columns in the Daily Dispatch and Modernghana.com.
It is also available on my blog at: www.alaye.biz/category/blog
As we all strive to make our dear republic a better place, it is imperative that we all strive to be ETHICAL in all our doings.
How do we condemn our leaders when we also indulge in petty plagiarism?
I don’t mind any person or organisation using my articles; but the right thing should be done – give the writer CREDIT.
I called Mr. Thomas identified myself and asked why he decided to plagiarise my work. He was almost incoherent with shame.
I courteously asked him to remove them from wherever he has posted them. He promised to do so. Hours later, the articles are still online and he continue to receive kudos for his intellectual theft.
Here is the article as published by Mr. Thomas with my piece highlighted in bold. Apart from the opening two paragraphs, everything else in the piece was mine verbatim.
|
[this is what Mr. Thomas wrote….
Ghana is a poor country is no longer newsworthy? The question is: why is our largely inflicted poverty not reflecting in our sickening opulent leaders. Due to over congestion in the Adusah and Mayera M/A Junior High School One (JHS1), some pupil are learning under trees, The Adusah Primary 5 and 6 Block is full of leakages from the roof and no one cares, Brilliant but needy pupil are in various schools across the country but it is based on corruption and bribery, example Eric Armah who is an Orphan at Adusah JHS1, The Asofan-Ofankor Nursery School don’t have a School Block and therefore pupil are learning under trees all in the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region with children as old as eight (8) months exposed to these danger, persons with disability are begging for coins along major highways and we don’t have conscience to prevent these as we continue to practice these Lucifer patterns of Politics in Ghana. …end of Mr. Thomas contribution]
As we can see, there is no connection to tie his piece to what follow. Dutch children have easy access to free and high quality education up to secondary level. In Netherlands, quality health is free for children and easily available to every Dutch citizen. The Netherlands with only about eighteen million people is ranked number nine among 173 countries. The Prime Minister of Netherlands lives in his own house, as do his ministers and all the Dutch members of Parliament. The Dutch Prime Ministers rides in his own car as do all his ministers. The Dutch PM does not travel in a cavalcade of expensive cars or with a phalanx of bodyguards. Some Members of Parliaments in Ghana don’t have conscience for the ordinary people expecting bodyguards for them as security. Our Educational system is an apology. Our health system begs our pardon and a huge joke. Our Hospitals are virtual mortuaries. The majority of our citizens have no access to potable water. We cannot generate enough electricity to run the little disarticulates industries and children are badly nourished. The youth are unemployed and wasting their lives away on Cigarettes and Akpeteshie. Voice of Developing Communities (VODEC) is asking whether our sad state of under-development reflected in the size on our leaders. Definitely not. The Netherlands with its US$325 billion economy has 13 ministers and 12 deputies and 150 MPs .The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, Management and Fisheries is run by a single Minister and able to generate about US$35 Billion in annual expects. In Ghana, we have 275 MPS, more than 90ministers counting on the regional and deputy ministers. The abysmal state of our economy didn’t stop our MPs from taking from the state a house, a car loan. Our ministers live at state expenses; we are evening footing their telephone bills! Yet with our over 90 ministers we cannot produce enough food to feed ourselves. We have over four ministers in agric and we are importing maize from USA and rice from Thailand. Clean water is still beyond the reach of our people. And although we have a minister for Science and Technology, and we are still importing mosquito nets from Indonesia and dog chains from Taiwan. Why are our leaders not prepared to make the same sacrifices they always call upon us to make? Why do they keep calling themselves servant of the people and yet tool around town in a 4 wheel jeeps while we continue to suffocate in our trotro’s. It is my contention that we will not register any improvement in our sad affairs unless and until we can compel our leaders to live on the same poverty level they set for the rest of us. Here we have the following in mind: 2. No Official of government of Ghana at any level shall send his children to school overseas. This we believe is one way to stem the deterioration of our educational facilities. 3. No Official of government of Ghana at any level shall keep a foreign account. If our leaders are legally compelled to save their monies in local banks, they will surely do a better job to reduce inflation and ensure that our currency stops being a monopoly currency. 4. No Official of government of Ghana at any level shall be kept at state expenses until such time that our economy can support it. These means that apart from the President, the Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice, no official shall be entitled to a house or a car loan or allowance from the state. It is time we create the culture whereby only public spirited individuals vie for offices. …. End of what he plagiarized from me] SIGNED
About the Author Femi Akomolafe is a passionate Pan-Africanist. A columnist for the Accra-based Daily Dispatch newspaper and Correspondent for the New African magazine. Femi lives in both Europe and Africa, and writes regularly on Africa-related issues for various newspapers and magazines. Femi was the producer of the FOCUS ON AFRICANS TV Interview programme for the MultiTV Station. He is also the CEO of Alaye Dot Biz Limited Dot Biz, a Kasoa-based Multimedia organisation that specialises in Audio and Video Production. He loves to shoot and edit video documentaries. His highly-acclaimed books (“Africa: Destroyed by the gods,” “Africa: It shall be well,” “18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories” and “Ghana: Basic Facts + More”) are now available for sales at the following bookshops/offices:
Where to buy them online: On Lulu Books: 18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories https://goo.gl/Skohtn Ghana: Basic Facts + More: https://goo.gl/73ni99 Africa: Destroyed by the gods: https://goo.gl/HHmFfr Africa: It shall be well: https://goo.gl/KIMcIm
Africa: it shall be well on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4820404 on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/QeFxbl on Lulu Books: https://goo.gl/SQeoKD
Africa: Destroyed by the gods on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4811974 on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/1z97ND on Lulu Books: http://goo.gl/KIMcIm
My Lulu Books page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FemiAkomolafe
Get free promotional materials here:
A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: It shall be well’ could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-a-free-chapter/
A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: Destroyed by the gods’ could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-free-chapter/ Contact Femi: Email: fakomolafe@gmail.com Kindly help me share the books’ links with your friends and, grin, please purchase your copies. Comradely, Femi Akomolafe [paypal_donation] |
by 
