Author Alleges Babangida Of Plagiarism In His Autobiography
An author, Max Siollun, has alleged that some sections of former Nigeria Military ruler, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s book, titled ‘A Journey In Service,” was plagiarised.
Siollun said the Babangida’s ghost writer plagiarised his book titled ‘Soldiers of Fortune’.
Siollun, in a Facebook post while reviewing Babangida’s book, said he published ‘Soldiers of Fortune’ which was about the military rule era in Nigeria, partly because little was known of Nigerian military political history.
He claimed that some sections of Babangida’s book have passages that use eerily similar wording to his own book.
He said Babangida’s ghost writer used passages from his book without citing him as the source, adding that he was astonished the writer could do so brazenly without attribution.
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He wrote, “I wrote the first book in my Soldiers of Fortune series about the military rule era in Nigeria partly because “Little is known of Nigerian military political history due to an almost Mafia-like code of silence by its leading figures.”
“Nearly 12 years after the first Soldiers of Fortune book was published, former Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida who one reviewer described as the book’s “mesmerising chief protagonist” finally published his autobiography A Journey In Service. With incredible coincidence, he released his autobiography on exactly the same day as my latest book was released.
“There is also the sensitive issue of plagiarism. Some sections of Babangida’s book have passages that use eerily similar (or verbatim identical) wording to my books.
“I challenge anyone to read Babangida’s book and not conclude that Babangida’s ghost writer used passages from my books Soldiers of Fortune and Oil, Politics, and Violence, without citing me as the source (e.g. the passages about the the passages about the 1976 coup, how retroactive legislation during the 1976 coup trials, “friendly neutrality” of senior officers during the 1975 coup, and those about Brigadiers Diya and Mamman appearing before the Political Bureau in 1985).
“All of them read like extracts from my books rather than original authorship. I am astonished that his ghost writer copied my work so brazenly without attribution.”
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
