A veteran journalist, publisher, and author of many books, Dada Olaonipekun explained that plagiarism is a crime, a theft of intellectual property that describes a writer's dishonesty thereby destroying his reputation and credibility.
Olaonipekun stated this on Saturday at the Association of Nigeria Authors Secretariat at Siemon Adebo Momoria library during a round table discussion.
He encouraged writers, and journalists to embrace originality and authenticity in writing adding that plagiarism doesn't only reduce writers' status but also makes them look stupid.
Olaonipekun admonished writers to use technology online responsibly to enable them to avoid the temptation to steal or plagiarise people's work.
According to him "the importance of using technology and online resources responsibly and avoiding the temptation to steal or plagiarize other people's work is paramount, plagiarism is a crime, a theft, and a form of dishonesty that can destroy a writer's reputation and credibility"
"The originality and authenticity in writing are very important, I want to encourage young writers to avoid stealing other people's work and passing it off as their own. Plagiarism not only reduces a writer's status and makes them look stupid, but it also undermines the value of their work and the trust that readers have in them".
"The significance of today's event, which is part of a learning process aims to educate writers about the importance of avoiding plagiarism and being original in their work, writers should be aware of the consequences of plagiarism and take steps to avoid it, especially in today's digital age where it's easy to detect and expose plagiarism".
Also corroborating Mr. Mathew Simpah a film writer and artist posited that giving credit to the original owner of ideas will prevent writers and journalists from committing plagiarism.
He encouraged that despite using creativity skills attributions should be made where necessary and credit must be given to the original owner of an idea.
