₦airaland Forum

nwaanambra1:
well your people dropped the case after feeling that the millions of igbos killed in the civil war is enough recompense for Cyprians copy right infringement.

the speed northers use to attack any issues relating to north is so amazing!

if only you guys can also use the same speed to sort various issues bedeviling Nigeria - after all, you guys own Nigeria stock, lock and barrel!

Caveatemptor:
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=reseafrilite

That's the link,sir.
Actually I have been on the thread since it was posted. Cyprian Ekwensi was such a big part of my reading as a youth and I was shocked to read about all this plagiarism stuff and I have been searching the internet all day to reach the truth. Unfortunately there is very little information on this issue but we must continue to search. The truth must be hidden somewhere. I also found out that John Tafida was not an illiterate as I thought before but actually one of the Hausa intellectuals of the time although not a top class writer but he could hold his own.

Caveatemptor:
Please interested parties should goggle the following topic-"Hausa to English-a study in paraphrase by Neil Skinner."
It sheds a lot of light on the issue in question. Apparently from Dr Skinners investigation, Mr Ekwensi got the story from an unnamed Mallam 18 years after Jiki Magayi was published.
On the part of the co writer of Jiki Magayi,Mr Rupert, he encouraged John Tafida Umaru to write a story about Hausa culture but the end product was so poor that he had to work on the story with Tafida,hence both their names had to appear as co authors of the book.

Sparkle777:
Thanks a lot, u ve been very patient and kind about this issue.

Sparkle777:
I do get u, but I need to know if this issue applies to his other Hausa novels.ie Passport of Mallam Ilia, Burning Grass, Anthills of the Savannah etc.
If this was an isolated case then I ll sleep well. I just dont want my image of Cyprian Ekwensi to be dented.

Cetona:
Now I am confused, the Op said CE might have copied 'Jiki Magayi' not 'Magana Jari ce'. Why are you talking about Magana Jari ce?

adexsimply:
I don't know why some find this difficult to grasp. If anyone types "in the forest of olodumare" on Google, the prominent author name is D.O Fagunwa, despite the fact that it was translated by Wole Soyinka. Soyinka referenced and acknowledged his source which Cyprian failed to do, yet they're screaming trash.

murtalaa:
why then would you be interested in who lifted from Magana jari ce since it could be argued that it was lifted from alfu Laila (which is not copyrighted) not magana jari ce.

murtalaa:
in fairness, the author of "magana jari ce", Abubakar Imam, derived most of his stories from an arabic book(whose author is unknown) called "Alfu Laila wa Laila". But Abubakar Imam was magnanimous enough to state it in many instances throughout the book.

Nickydrake:
These comparisons are misleading. Copyright does not exist in perpetuity. Typically, it lasts for the duration of the author's life and about twenty-five years after his death.

This is the only reason CoCoLav would not need Shakespeare's permission if she were inclined to translate Hamlet into Yoruba, or any other language. It is for the same reason that Ola Rotimi did nothing wrong in his adaptation of Oedipus Rex, since Sophocles died in 406 BC, long before the idea of copyright was even conceived. For an apt comparison, we would have to consider the publication date of Ekwensi's book as well as the duration of the copyright in the original Hausa work, factoring copyright laws extant at the time.

I am a great admirer of Ekwensi and have always thought that perhaps he deserved a little more recognition than he ever got, but this allegation is a serious one. It astounds me that the majority of contributors to this thread have chosen to condemn the investigative effort of the OP (or whoever first made the connection) instead of asking questions of their own and seeking an explanation.

Statements like, 'Why are you crying more than the bereaved' and 'He must have obtained permission,' -- the latter being nothing but bizarre authoritative conjecture -- reflect the pitiful attitude of Nigerians towards reasonable enquiry and mental exertion. This in turn explains our present social, economic and political predicament.