Since the wee hours of this morning, Kiki Mordi has been #Trending or for a better mode of expression, getting dragged for the success of the #SexForMarks BBC Eye Report which went viral.
A colleague took to the platform to spread the dirty linen when she called out the young rising journalist after Kiki Mordi earned a 2020 Michael Elliot Award by the International Center for Journalists for African Storytelling.
While some have taken to the platform, to say she doesn’t deserve the award because the idea behind the story did not come from her, moreover, she did not carry out the assignment all by herself but had a team who worked behind the scenes.
On the flip side, it can be said that Kiki Mordi did not draw any attention to herself but the timeliness of the report and the storytelling behind the sensitive topics brought her into the limelight. There are similar stories of investigative journalists winding up dead, victimized by the stories they are trying to uncover or sometimes even dead.
Moreover, BBC Eye has carried out several reports but this particular one got nominated for the 2020 Michael Elliot Award, so is it really right to overshadow all the effort she put into the work because she got recognized for the amazing work without directly drawing any attention towards herself?
If ideas were so monumental, without thought for the execution, wouldn’t we all who have ideas a dime a dozen all be superstars and celebrities.
Should Kiki Mordi thank all those who were monumental to her success as a journalist, including the British Broadcasting Corporation – YES!!! Should she be disparaged because she suddenly found herself in the shadows of the success of that story?
For someone who also received threats for the same report and litigation, and there was no news like oh she wasn’t the only one who did the report and the fact that her now accuser was eerily quiet, why does she have to share the reward that comes from a work well done only when she is succeeding?
If the story turned out to be sham how many would be so willing to be a part of the failure and own it collectively? In a very typical Nigerian Lingo – Let’s be Guided Please!
