Oprah Winfrey Scammed by StoryAfrica's Mfonobong Nsehe

StoryAfrica, Mfonobong Nsehe, and literary 419!


This is a call to arms. I first came across this story when Jude Dibia--in apparent joy--posted on his Facebook page, the news that an anthology in which one of his stories appeared had been chosen by the Oprah Book Club. This good news, seemingly coming on the heels of Uwem Akpan's success was sugar to my bele. But no; it was a lie. (Jude Dibia assumed that his story had been sold to this group, StoryAfrica,that published the anthology, by his agent. But his agent later said, no, he ahd neevr heard of the chaps.)

This anthology, Africa's Best Stories, has so many things about it that beggar belief. For ease of argument, I will post a link to the story and list these things ( http://book.co.za/bookchat/topic/media-watch-meet-a-literary-419-scam-africas-best-stories-involved-in-oprah-book-club-hoax ). Note that everything I write in the list was claimed by one Mfonobong Nsehe, a self-acclaimed "straight A" student of Daystar University, Kenya.

1. The stories in the book had been chosen--and exhaustively edited--by professors from Harvard, Columbia, and other IVY league schools. (BIG LIE!!!!)

2. The authors, W Soyinka, CN Adichie, C Unigwe, Ms Wood, J Dibia, had been kind and supportive of the initiative and consented to allow their works appear in the anthology. (FAT LIE O! These thieves combed thru the web and copy-and-pasted stories from free e-zines.)

3. Oprah picked the book for her acclaimed monthly Book Club. (Any need to paraphrase this?)

The literary web-group, SA Books broke the story on their website. Molara Wood then posted some of the email she had received after the fact from this Mfonobong Nsehe (
http://wordsbody.blogspot.com/2010/06/see-me-see-trouble-o.html ).

In a correspondence, also posted subsequently on Molara's blog, Nsehe bragged that the collection was burning rubber off the shelves in Amazon.com; he asked her belatedly for permission for her work; he claimed to have gotten permission from everyone else but her. All lies of course.

But over the last few days, a new development has entered the matter. Molara Wood has been inundated with the vilest smear campaign by friends and cohorts of Mfonobong Nsehe. They have even created a blog dedicated to this, molarawoodisdumb.blogspot.com.


I say, no! This cannot be made to happen. I have already dropped a complaint at their university's website: http://www.daystar.ac.ke/modules/contactus/ about the activities of chaps purporting to be students of this institution. Please everyone involved (All of us writers) should not take this lying down. I read some the email set to Molara; they have threatened her life too ( http://news.book.co.za/blog/2010/06/07/media-watch-molara-wood-under-shameful-attack-from-africas-best-stories-supporters/).


~ Sent by Adeleke Adeyemi