Folks, I know when you have a 'mob rule' in government as we have now under Buhari's government, there's no atrocious act they won't try their hands on just to carry on with their lies and propaganda.
Two days after it was launched amidst nationwide fanfare, an allegation has emerged that the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign of the Buhari administration was a stolen concept.
Besides its inherent irony, observers said the dispute could also spark a new round of debates about intellectual property in Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday launched the reorientation campaign ‘change begins with me’ in Abuja as part of his government’s strategy to make Nigerians eschew their “dishonesty, indolence, unbridled corruption and widespread impunity” and embrace daily introspection over their “immoral” conducts.
Specifically, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, is facing an allegation that he adapted the ‘Change Begins with Me’ from another public service campaign after its creators pitched the idea to him late last year and he declined interest.
Associates said Akin Fadeyi, a creative artist and former head of communications at Airtel Nigeria, met with Mr. Lai Mohammed in December 2015 to intimate him about ‘Not In My Country,’ an episodic narrative that deploys humour to underscore societal ills and appeal to Nigerians to shun sharp practices.
This newspaper further learnt that Mr. Fadeyi met with Mr. Lai Mohammed at his Isaac John Street, Ikeja, Lagos, home to demonstrate the role his project could play in advancing the Buhari administration’s change mantra.
“The idea was to appeal to the minister to get NTA and Radio Nigeria to play ‘Not In My Country’ as part of their administration’s campaign against corruption,” one of Mr. Fadeyi’s associates said.
At the time, Mr. Lai Mohammed was the supervising minister, overseeing all government-run media outlets until directors-general were appointed in May 2016.
Mr. Fadeyi declined repeated requests for comment for this report, but the associate, who said he’d been friends with Mr. Fadeyi for many years, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Lai Mohammed rejected the proposal from his friend and his partners after holding meetings with them and getting them to effect some changes in areas where he deemed imperfect.
“They submitted the final version of their proposal to him after ending each episode with ‘Change Begins with Me’ as he directed,” the associate said. “He immediately said it was a brilliant idea because it achieved ‘the power of one minute.’”
In total, three episodes were produced by Mr. Fadeyi and submitted to Mr. Lai Mohammed in January 2016.
“He just suddenly disappeared since then and made it very difficult for Mr. Fadeyi to reach him for updates about the proposal,” the associate said. “Months later, he started publicity about ‘Change Begins with Me’ launch without signing any contract with owners.”
The associate said the video skits that were played at the launch of ‘Change Begins with Me’ bore similarities with Mr. Fadeyi’s ‘Not In My Country’ project.
“The minister just sort of made a little change here, a little change there, and ran to town with the concept.”
But Mr. Mohammed denied the allegations, saying he had started ‘Change Begins with Me’ before he was nominated by Mr. Buhari in October 2015.
“We started working on ‘Change Begins with Me’ before the honourable minister was nominated and we’ve been working with the agency that produced the campaign.” Williams Adeleye, Mr. Mohammed’s spokesman, told PREMIUM TIMES Friday.
“So let him go to wherever he likes then we’ll meet and go and sort it out there,” he added.
But Mr. Fadeyi’s associate said it was curious that Mr. Mohammed showed interest in adapting ‘Not In My Country’ when he already had his own plans in place.
“Why was he reviewing the proposal and even asking that changes be made to ‘Not In My Country’ to make it more acceptable to him if he already had his own project?”
Mr. Mohammed later called to explain that he received proposals from about 20 different individuals and firms interested in designing the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign.
“Akin Fadeyi just happened to be one of them,” Mr. Mohammed said.
Kolawole Ayanwale, founder and CEO of Centrespread, the advertising firm contracted by Mr. Mohammed for the campaign, said the allegations were unfounded.
Mr. Ayanwale said he never heard of Mr. Fadeyi and his ‘Not In My Country’ project before the controversy this week.
“I heard his campaign was on the Internet and TV but I didn’t see anything neither did I even know the young man before now and that is the whole truth.”
Mr. Ayanwale said he won’t take actions that could erode the reputation his firm had established in the advertising industry for decades.
“Centerspread is over 34 years old and I have been in charge since it was established,” Mr. Ayanwale said. “Go and do your independent analysis of our works and you can never find any instance of intellectual property theft. We don’t copy other people’s work here.”
Mr. Ayanwale said his firm was contracted by the All Progressives Congress during the 2015 elections and worked closely with Mr. Mohammed to design campaign materials for the party.
Similarly, Brian Ebden, an advertising consultant who worked with Mr. Ayanwale on the project, said ‘Change Begins with Me’ had been in the works before Mr. Mohammed became a minister. He said Mr. Fadeyi’s associates were only out for mischief.
“This is nothing but sheer lies and blackmail,” Mr. Ebden said in a statement Saturday.
PREMIUM TIMES said it sighted email conversations between Mr. Ebden and Mr. Mohammed and other staff of the Ministry of Information that showed that the ‘Change Begins with Me’ was deliberated upon before Mr. Mohammed became a minister.
In one of the emails, dated October 31, 2015, Mr. Ebden sent Mr. Mohammed samples of the jingles produced for ‘Change Begins with Me’ as well as the logo.
“Further to our meeting yesterday and as promised, please see attached hereto, the document for your perusal and consideration. I have also attached the TVC pilots as well as the Radio Ads and Jingle options separately,” Mr. Ebden said. “If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience.”
But Mr. Fadeyi’s associates said Mr. Mohammed would need to do more if he must absolve himself from the charges.
“That he started the project months before he met Mr. Fadeyi in December 2015 is not enough,” an associate said. “‘Not In My Country’ has been in public domain since 2007.
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