United States-based Nigerian lecturer sues CBN governor for plagiarism

A United States-based Nigerian lecturer has sued the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Lamido Sanusi, for allegedly plagiarising his works. The plaintiff, Prof. Victor Dike, of the School of Engineering and Technology, National University of Sacramento, California, said Sanusi breached his intellectual property rights without proper reference and citation in accordance with Copyright Acts in two separate convocation lectures he (Sanusi) presented. The suit was filed on behalf of Dike by Mr. E. U. Chinedum at a Federal High Court, Abuja. The matter concerns contents of various articles written and published by the plaintiff, including ‘Review of the challenges facing the Nigerian economy: (Is national development possible without technological capability?), published in the Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 12). Other materials involved in the matter are an article titled ‘Nigeria: Reform efforts and the unresolved socio-economic problems’, adapted from chapter nine of the book ‘Democracy and political life in Nigeria (2nd edition), as well as a write up titled ‘Nigeria’s bad governance and weak institution: Is the 2020 project achievable?’ Another article involved in the case is a work titled: ‘The state of education in Nigeria and the health of the nation’, published by the NESG Economic Indicators, vol. 8, No. 1, January-March 2002. Dike, in his statement of claim, informed the court that he was the original author of the articles. He alleged that Sanusi, in a public lecture delivered at the 8th Convocation Ceremony of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, on November 26, 2010, titled ‘Growth prospects for the Nigerian economy’ used (copied verbatim and pasted) from the his (plaintiff’s) ‘academic articles without referring to him (plaintiff) as the original author of the works. The plaintiff averred that in yet another public lecture delivered at the Convocation Square, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, on December 10, 2010, titled ‘Global financial meltdown and the reforms in the Nigerian banking sector’, Sanusi also “copiously used (copied verbatim and pasted) articles originally written and published by the plaintiff without acknowledging the plaintiff as the author of the works from where he sourced the materials that made up his lecture”. Dike added, “These articles have been published by the plaintiff and also variously cited by plethora of other writers, therefore the copyrights thereof belongs to the plaintiff”. The plaintiff further informed the court that on discovering Sanusi’s actions, he promptly wrote him, reminding him of the breach of his copy rights. However, according to the plaintiff, Sanusi replied to say that he (Dike) was properly acknowledged and referred him to where he acknowledged only one article by one “Victor E.D”. The plaintiff is asking the court to order Sanusi to pay him N15m, covering compensation (N10m), and the fees charged by his counsel (N2m), cost of traveling to Nigeria (N1m), hotel accommodation, transport and other logistics (N1.5m). After hearing an exparte motion by the plaintiff on Monday, Justice Adamu Bello granted an order for substituted service of the process on the CBN governor. The case was adjourned till May 31 for mention. Reacting to the development, the spokesperson for the CBN, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, said the suit against Sanusi was a mere distraction. He said, “We are here at the World Bank meeting in Washington DC with the governor and somebody called me on this, but I haven’t heard anything like that. I have asked my people to find out because there is a whole lot of distraction going on. “However, just think about it; what is he (Sanusi) gaining from plagiarizing? They are trying to distract the man from his work.”