Sometime last year, a Popular Nigerian actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, was maliciously accused by a notorious blog of having a romantic relationship with Nigerian Senate President Godswill Akpabio – an accusation she vehemently denied and threatened legal action.
The publication was highly damaging to her reputation, and expectedly, she released a public statement hoping to redeem her image. Below is an excerpt of the statement she released:
“I saw text messages and calls this morning, alerting me to a very wicked lie from the pit of hell. I must say that I’m very disappointed, shocked and appalled. And I want to categorically state that I have never ever met the Senate president in my life.”
She went on to state that “I have not had any cause to be in the same room with him, not to talk of being his side chick. I’m happily married with two beautiful children.”
Dakore concludes her statement by saying, “It is a lie, and I am ready for any legal action because, at this point, you have messed with the wrong person. I keep to myself, mind my business, I drink water and I do my work. So for someone to want to tarnish my hard-earned name and image for some clicks, no way.”
Unfortunately, she adds a closing line to her statement that YOU MUST NEVER DO in a world now powered by artificial intelligence. She wrote:
“I want to put it out there. Anyone who can provide video or audio evidence that I have been with this man, I would give you N5 million right now.”
On the surface, this open challenge may look like going to any length to prove your innocence and make your claim believable. However, it can destroy the very reputation you are trying to protect.
Here’s why
With the technological and AI-powered tools available today, it will take less than a minute to generate images and videos showing that Dakore and Akpabio were in the same room. Even worse, images of them in a passionate and romantic moment can be instantly generated with the right prompt.
You then go from saying the accusation was false to saying It wasn’t you.
Unfortunately, the image or video most people will be looking at will be that of you, and it will be extremely difficult to explain away. Your reputation will take further beating, and if not handled properly, you will have dug yourself into a hole so deep you can’t climb out of.
Lesson
Never, no matter how innocent you are, make a public challenge to show a picture or video of you to prove an allegation. You’d be digging yourself into a hole because almost anything can be generated in today’s highly technologically driven world where AI can create an alternative reality.
A better response is to leave the statement as this:
“I saw text messages and calls this morning, alerting me to a malicious lie from the pit of hell. I’m very disappointed, shocked, and appalled. And I want to state that the allegation is unfounded and wickedly malicious categorically.
I’m happily married with two beautiful children, all of whom have been injured and traumatized by this malicious publication. I have consulted my lawyers and will be seeking redress in court.”
Dakore got lucky that no one took her up on the challenge. You might not!
