Essays / Satiric

Re: To the Guys That Want To Take Down LIB | Love Letter from Ayo Sogunro

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Dearest Linda Ikeji,

Re: To the Guys That Want To Take Down LIB

Permit me the indulgence of a few lines to your eminent personality. I have been a constant fan of your work, although from afar. To be honest, I rarely open your blog volitionally, never scrolled through the news items on a slow day, never typed out the address on my browser to open it; yet, like hundreds of thousands of other Nigerians—I find myself falling into your domain through the intricacies of internet sharing and their damn hyperlinks. Despite this non-conscious increment of your page views, I dare say that I have had no cause to complain about the content of LIB—I expected to find gossip and entertainment not Shakespeare, and you have never disappointed me.

So, again, I am a huge admirer of your intrepid work.

But this is not to say I have not had some mixed feelings—possibly on the verge of “beef”: as a writer who has managed to capture some viral attention on social media myself, I know how difficult it is to get to the top. Like you have rightly pointed out, you are highly ranked in the Nigerian cybersphere. And, you could say I envy—to use our recent diction—your super-megastar blog status.

Yet, this is not an automatic “hating”.

You see, I do not hold your successes against you. The fact that gossip and entertainment blogs rank higher than informative or analytical ones is hardly your fault—it’s just a simple reflection of our society’s intellectual values. More importantly, if you don’t make the money from this, someone else will, anyway. Considering your status as, I think, a single black woman, it is all the more inspiring that you are the one raking in all that cash and influence. Believe me, this is a really inspiring story—worthy of its own biopic sometime.

But on the other hand, here is the problem: we live in a world of laws and regulations, and most of your critics have come from that angle. And a lot of people cherish these legal values. In fact, some people are almost insane about the extent to which they are prepared to enforce laws. These people are passionate enough about their rights under the law to come across as your “haters”. I, for one, am willing to ignore a lot of these unreasonable laws—but not everyone one can be as patient as I am.

Now, what do I mean?

Take, for example, the other day when you published my letter criticizing that son of the Abachas: I was quite happy to see it posted on your blog even without you requesting permission. Practically the whole of Nigeria’s internet did, anyway. I didn’t mind. I am crazy like that. For people like me, we are happy to see our content shared around the world without restrictions, even where the person sharing it is making money from it. To people like me, the moral right to be acknowledged as the writer is sufficient, and we do not care much about the economic rights—which is why I will never get to buy a Range Rover.

You got the moral rights acknowledgment aspect correct in your response to these so-called haters. But, a lot of my writer friends are not haters, they are simply hard workers who would also like, very much, to buy their own Range Rovers someday; a difficult enough ambition in Nigeria, where writing is about the lowest paying job or business an African can have. Consequently, a number of my writer friends are very guarded, not just about the moral rights, but also about the economic rights of their writings.

Now, I do not necessarily agree with their position about sharing online content. This is where you and I are on the same page—afterall, we should all be grateful first to Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, who gave us this medium without copyright or licensing restrictions. But, we do not control the laws or the regulations governing copyright—and so we have to understand the point of my writer friends. These people are not “haters” and they do not want to take down your blog just to make some money. No, they are mostly writers with genuine economic copyright grievances—and that 2014 Range Rover Sport Supercharged didn’t help them to suddenly become more understanding.

Consequently, we should be able to see their perspective, considering also that Google sees their perspective.

All of these is why: first, as a publisher, you need a lawyer to help you circumnavigate the murky waters of copyright—forget the excuse that everyone else is doing it, and focus on doing it right; secondly, start some payment terms for the hungry, trekking, writers whose writing you “borrow”—you will be surprised how cooperative they can get. Thirdly, you may need an accountant too, just to balance the costs of all these economics. It’s a small price to pay to save yourself the burden of critics—and you may end up having to own, maybe, not a Range Rover. But you will rest easy from spammers, hackers, and critics who will stop at nothing to get you off the charts.

These, of course, do not mean you will not have genuine haters determined to make cyberspace a warfront for you—but for genuine haters, just like you said, you have “the backing of God”, same as the rest of us mortals. Meanwhile, get the backing of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for all the other stuff. You’re in the big leagues now, and the legal world comes with the package.

On a personal note, I am also very keen on changing my car; My 2004 Honda Accord is so not supercharged and has become a bit of a drag with old age. A retainer with my firm would be a quietly and quite satisfactory arrangement for both of us. As a bonus: you get the services of a great writer into the bargain—particularly to help with all those pesky original content.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours respectfully, sincerely, faithfully, captivated and so on, etc.

Ayo Sogunro

P.S.: You know you don’t need my permission to share this—we now have an understanding.

Ayo Sogunro is the author of The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales. A lawyer by profession, he also indulges in quasi socio-legal philosophy on this blog. You may interact with him on Twitter via @ayosogunro.

91 thoughts on “Re: To the Guys That Want To Take Down LIB | Love Letter from Ayo Sogunro”

  5. Ayo is insane wallahi…. I doubt a lot of people will grab the sarcasm inherent therein, but I do not expect less from a young man I admire and know to be super intelligent…

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  9. Go and meet that your hungry girlfriend for money Ayo.

    You guys are jokers. Linda can choose to stop posting your crap and still be in the money.

    Just FYI

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  12. Lord I love AY.
    I can imagine him saying this to Linda in person, seeing him adjusting his glasses.
    Linda all Ayo is saying is add administrative coefficient to your blogging. It will do you good, since this is your major source of income. I hope Linda will see this from a “help” perspective and not “haters”.

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  15. WOW! Such eloquence. Such clarity! Such satire! Such intelligence!

    Oga Ayo, I’ve never been fond of lawyers…(despite having a lawyer sister and dating another lawyer)…but man! You make me want to have kids just so that they can be trained by you.

    Too bad I couldn’t come to your book signing when you were in London. I still owe you a very hearty handshake and a respectful bow.

    +10^6

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  16. Thematically written,arranged & submitted. So glad this young genius belongs to us in Nigeria. A well analysed satire. Kudos, Ayo’ Sogunro.

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  19. Writing is a work of art, to edutain (educate and entertain). Ayo does it well.

    Oya Linda, hire Ayo, he will not be too expensive. He will not charge you based on the media-narrative worth of N140 million per year.

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  20. What i think about this outrageously good piece of work, will really be irrelevant in the grand scheme of the debate, but posterity will have a choke-hold on it’s simple truth’s.

    Great write..

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  23. I quite agree with u. Linda needs to pipe down on d Designer wears, bags & Range, to face d administration of her business. Spend d easy money 2 Consolidate d Legal angle of ur business. & stop rubbing d wealth in our faces. He who Fails 2 Plan, Plans 2 Fail.

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  31. The way she writes just makes me sad. And the other day she tried to pass it off as mere typographical error- in the ranks of something even CNN would do. She doesn’t even try to be creative with her adjectives (Stunning this, stunning that). And then the way she narrates stuff, gawd!. She’s been talking of getting employees since forever. I think now is the time. Hope she reads this and stops all those her emotional propaganda and never-give-up speeches. Don’t take it personal Linda, your blog is on my speed dial and don’t let me start the lecture on ‘haters’ (*checking Google for the origin of that word) If i were an English student I’d write a thesis, man.

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      • Yes she does have the traffic that other people don’t. However, In addition to having traffic

        –She is No 1 when it comes to copyright infringement
        — She is No 1 when it comes to Plagiarism (Taking other people’s work and presenting it like it’s hers and not giving credit

        — She is No 1 when it comes to being unrepentant about copyright crimes she has commited
        — She is No 1 when it comes to calling her God and associating him in her pilfering ways.
        –She is No 1 when it comes to making use of Ctrl A and Ctrl V

        The summary of her response on her blog yesterday was (I steal people’s content but I don’t give a crap because other people steal too. Then she threw God’s name in the mix of things. I don’t think God is in the business of associating with a crook.I forgot this is Nigeria where theft is celebrated and called hard-work by the likes of you.

        — A country where mediocrity is praised by the likes of you
        –A country where there is nothing like originality
        — A country where Abacha gets a Post-mortem award
        — A country where Ibori and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha open their guts to question why people are coming after them (In their words which is similar to what Linda said:There are other people stealing why can’t they go after them instead of us)

        Then you guys complain about the psychotic leaders you voted for. How is Linda any different from these folks. Theft is Theft (whether it is $5 or $50 billion). The leaders in the country are a representation of people like Linda and you. Nigeria deserves every mess that it encompasses.

        I will take a No 20 blog that is built on originality anyday over a No 1 blog that is built on Pilfering. I hope she does learn a lesson or two when she gets out of this mess. Some of us actually want her to succeed. But she has to do it the ethical and legal way. You can’t be breaking cyber laws and be writing some silly unapologetic sympathy note. Nobody is going to get to buy that crap.

        Rant finished

        Liked by 1 person

  32. It’s just painful that the whole point of this might be lost in the scheme of things considering the sort of society we are in, but of a few things I’m sure of; you’ll be hated by the mediocres, applauded by the intelligent and linda will be a smart girl to take the advice considering the fact that it’s coming from a lawyer and you are not charging her for consultation (and bros I have serious doubt if you know the bus stop called KOSOFE )

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  34. If only linda can see and listen to the truth…..beautiful write up Mr Ayo..i think we need more people like you and less people like her….AYO SOGUNRO FOR PRESIDENT 2019…

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  37. You are just a cheap as beggar. Go and work hard and buy your own range instead of trying to scheme your way into getting hand me downs Linda. All this is pure beef! Not to worry she won’t feature your work on her blog anymore, let’s see if she would have peace. Go and Man up and make your own honest living. In that jealous mind of yours you believe you have scored high points.

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  39. this is a brilliant right up and fantastic word of advise, it is in itself immoral to run an enterprise running into millions of dollar without a single staff… that blog has grown bigger than her, it is high time she wakes up to reality and build a proper structure… Am sure she will thank all her critics later, if she adheres…

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  42. Wow! U r really talented! Raw untapped talent! I’m just amazed at the way u played with words and managed to get ur point across with the right amount of sarcasm,humor,etc
    To top it all u did it with subtlety! And u marketed ursef n top! Keep this up and that supercharged range rover sports is coming ur way sooner than u think!

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  44. Too satirical! Linda just like many of us hustler on the street of Nigeria needs to vacate the arrogant attitude she usually put up and face reality. She must stop wielding sympathetic tendencies whenever her act and actions come under scrutiny. When you are in any endeavour in life,you must expect the “ups” and the “down”. Take glory former and diligently handle the later as well. Linda has business worth several millions and rides exotic cars worth whooping N50million without a proper office or staffers talk less of researchers. So what is her contribution to the intellectual world? She goofed!!!

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  48. Ayo sogonru, typical of your ilk. You are using sarcasm as a camouflage to hide you morbidly envious soul. Many simple minds here seem to have falling for it. But man, you are not half as smart as you think you are. You can’t fool all the people…even may more among the silent majority. You may not know it BUT you are a sick weakling. A ball-less creepy deranged mind. You know it, I know it, that this is NO sarcasm. Yours here is the product of a bruised pathetic effeminate soul.

    To those who think you’re being sarcastic, One will say this; NO, he’s NOT. It’s a cheap shield. Mr ayo songonru is COWARDLY hiding behind this fake shield of sarcasm. But it’s one fake sarcasm that is too clear, too transparent, too obvious. A “see-through” sarcasm from a sick mind.

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  52. Quite plain and spot on. But, although I’m still learning the ropes of this noblest of professions, I do know that it is unbecoming of a legal practitioner to solicit for a retainer, and publicly too.

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  55. I may not agree with all of it but you are an absolutely brilliant writer! And speaking of writing, I cannot quite figure out why some of you are giving Linda flack over her mediocre or poor writing skills. She never claimed to be a writer, did she?

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  56. Nice writeup Mr Ayo Sogunro, we live in a world of laws like you rightly pointed out. It’s easy to blame Linda, but my questions are as follows: firstly, Why didn’t the accuser make a list of those stories he claimed breached copyright laws? Secondly, asides Linda Ikeji’s blog, didn’t other bloggers put up those same stories probably before Linda did? Why then is Linda being singled out? Why then is this same accuser engaging in cyber squatting. It was alleged that his name came up as registrants of several domain names in Linda’s brand name. Isn’t that an offence on it’s own entirely? Are you also aware Mr Ayo Sogunro that I could deliberately decide to wrongfully accuse someone else of copyright infringement, defamation et al with the click of a button even if I’m not the original writer of that article? Google acts based on petitions they receive. They have strict policies against copyright infringement and spamming. These two will get your blog banned in an instant. I want to implore the accuser to do so for several other blogs out here in Nigeria and get such blogs banned too just to balance the equation. I just feel this could have been handled in a more civil manner rather than running someone else out of business. Mr Ayo, I still maintain that an amicable resolution should have ended this, rather than have Google take down someone else’s means of livelihood. It’s inhumane, malicious.

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    • Hi Jim,

      I take it you don’t visit The UK’s Dailymail. All of her stories of Nigerians in the diaspora and other foreign news are culled from there. All she does is blur out their ‘(c) Dailymail.co.uk’ from the pictures and click publish. Let’s just soak our chaplets in a drum of water and pray they don’t sue her.

      Here’s a link to a few of them:

      Oops! The site is down!

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    • You know what else is inhumane is stealing other people’ work and being unrepentant and proud about it. Did you read Linda’ s response yesterday on her blog. She practically shot herself in the foot with that write-up. According to her she has taking other people’ s work without giving credit but she doesn’t give a crap because other people are doing it.How about daring to be different from the crowd. All Linda needed to do was say I have messed up but I will work on doing better and credit sources. Instead she let pride and foolishness get the best of her. It wouldn’t have gotten this messy.

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  57. I doubt Auntie Linda won’t need a Merriam -Websters Dictionary to navigate through this piece. If only she had such a talented painter of words in her ranks.

    P.S: Those accusing her of ‘plagiarism’ should first of all make sure she knows what the term means. I’m sure she carried the Fareed Zakaria #Plagiarismgate scandal without knowing she plagiarises with every living breath.

    Hope I haven’t said much to annoy her beLIBers.

    Broda Ayo, please sign your autograph here ______________.

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  58. See how many times u mentioned lindodos range rover…jealousy will not kill all of you other bloggers..linda made it ti the top and will remain a household name while d rest of u will not until u stop being jelous…God hates peeps like u guys..linda will bounce back…see how every news medium is on the closure by google…u can never get such attention…kp managing ur 2004 honda.

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    • Ps. Just went tru ur blog and saw d paltry post replies uve been gerin..3, 7etc. very laughable..u write on linda and boom 71 comments and counting..dats d power linda has over all you jealous bloggers..

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  59. Mii lord……..this is so so amazing all well spelt out “Coated scolding”……I hope she sees it as a good advice………

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  61. Well, Ogbeni Sogunro you have spoken well and you have my admiration. When I hear Linda Ikeji and her celebrity status, I weep for our Ministry of Education, Copyrights Commission and the dimensions of Nigerian folly. Personally, I do not think she writes those things again, she would probably be spending her time dining with several friends with a cumulative IQ of room temperature. I have a strong feeling that she has a bunch of “wannabes” doing the ghost writing, sorry ghost pasting. She will only attend to some relating to her in person.

    To quote one of my favorite rappers, MF Doom:
    “Only in America could you find a way to earn a healthy buck
    And still keep your attitude on self-destruct”.

    Replace America with Nigeria.

    And I sincerely congratulate her for the shiny new car.
    (singing and strolling away: eni fere ko na owo soke…..till fade)

    😉

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  62. Apt! What more can I say? Heard so much about you…Think its high time i made this site one of my to-do-view everyday while i think also whether to follow you on twitter or not.
    I’m so happy that Nigeria has folks like this young man. Please keep up the good work, lifting is definitely on the way. GOD rewards hard-work even if our society does not.
    1luv.

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  67. Kai Ayo! You’re just completely mean. Lol. Make LPDC no sha catch u with the pseudo-soliciting and ‘ambulance chasing’. Well said man. The kind Linda does not know ni, that’s translating the yoruba slang ‘ai mo lo n se’. I do hope she responds graciously to your timely piece and give dem boiz ‘something to hold’ too.

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  68. Hahahaha. I do not know you but you definitely have my attention.
    I love the tone of this message: not righteous indignation or diplomatic ramblings but a witty Nigerian lawyer trying to make the best of the situation.
    I hope Linda takes your advice and hires you, she will be doing herself a great favor .

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  70. I’m quite new on this whole blog rating thing, but I will like to know if blogs are rated by the number of comments posted by readers or by the number of people who read the post on the blogs.
    I think it won’t be fair IF its rated only by the comments posted by readers, because I’ve been reading everything on this blog and I’ve never posted any comment. Infact I visit this blog every week and I’ve never seen comments from my good friend who introduced me to this blog nor have I seen any from the countless others I’ve introduced. I sincerely believe that this blog deserves a higher rating for its pure original, entertaining, informative, & educating content. This is what we need to promote in Nigeria. CREATIVE INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTION !

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  71. Uncle Ago still remain my only admire social critics, like him I had never type Linda ikeji’s URL on my computer address link, neither had I visited her blog or join in the gossip of her social web perperazzi. but uncle Ayo stylishly nudge her head, put her in business tutorial. Nigeria is so bless with this man. I doff my heart sir.

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  72. Pingback: Linda Ikeji: Of Nigerian Networked Publics and the Crisis of Shared Spectatoriality | jamesyeku

  73. Pingback: News: Ayo Sogunro replies Linda Ikeji who replies Mr Aye Dee | toyeenbalogun

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