Another Nigerian Author Comes Forward To Pile On SFWA's Embattled Diversity Hire Author Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki may have won a World Fantasy Award and gotten a Hugo Award Nomination, but other black writers are hungry to take his place in the SFWA clout system.

SFWA Board Member and World Fantasy Award Winner Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki has been disgraced after it came to light that he stole a white woman’s short story and labeled it as his own for a black-themed anthology. Now, another Nigerian award-winning writer has come forward to pile on the science fiction diversity hire as writers scramble to gain clout from the fallout. 

The short science fiction market is an entirely political entity. Very few magazines or anthologies pay what SFWA considers a professional rate of eight cents per word. With each of these markets receiving thousands of submissions per period and only having ten or twenty slots each, it makes for a constant feeding frenzy among SFWA members and those who aspire to join the club.

Editors are quick to remind authors that clout with them is paramount, and virtue-signaling identity politics online is one of the ways many of these people build their resumes within this tiny industry where few are actually making professional wages. 

This week, one of the serial award-winners propped up by this system, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, was exposed as a complete fraud as author Erin Cairns detailed how he stole a short story from her. Now, another Nigerian author seems to be seeking to replace his compatriot. 

Dare Segun Falowo posted to the liberal echo chamber BlueSky to his 131 followers to try to capitalize on the situation, “As a Nigerian writer of speculative fiction and a recipient of the ODE-organized Emeka Walter Dinjos Memorial Award for Disability in Speculative Fiction, I feel obliged to say something about what has been brought to the surface about Ekpeki's behaviour.” 

Immediately in his first post, he virtue signals both his African heritage and a disability award, clearly signaling he is a great choice to replace the diversity token. 

Falowo continued, “I am not too surprised by the accusations coming forth. When I met with him to collect my contributor copies of AFRICA RISEN, Ekpeki had a tantrum. He got verbally caustic with me over my support for Nuzo Onoh's campaign to give writers in anthologies shared credit for awards, won by editors.”

He then followed with, “He accused me of being part of a mob that was after his life, (using the access he had to me through a friendship forged over being Nigerian writers of spec fic living in Nigeria) to cause me distress over a single comment made online. That event created a permanent rift between us as acquaintances.”

“Winning an award organised by this same Ekpeki has felt very strange, as I wasn't ready to identify as disabled when the request for a story of mine came in. Before I knew there was any wahala, I accepted b/c the wider community was involved & because it contributed to mutual aid keeping me afloat.”

“I applaud the strength and restraint exercised by those who have been harmed by Ekpeki's actions, and their choice to be open about their experiences. It's a slippery situation and I believe there is a need for us to be gentle as we excise this energy from our lives.”

“I look forward to the motions that the larger SFFH community will take towards broadening the lens with which they look to African speculative fiction and all other global sources of the genre that are not of the West,” he concluded.

He was met with a few comments from other SFWA short fiction writers who apologized to him for what he went through and told him he deserved his award. 

The original whistleblower on the Nigerian author chimed in to say, “I'm sorry to hear about your experience, it sounds very uncomfortable and confusing-- and I know that feeling all too well. Thank you for speaking up about all of it, I know it wasn't easy, but I hope it's clearer than ever: you did nothing wrong.” 

Ekpeki’s cancelation appears to be in full effect, having not posted to BlueSky in sixteen days as of this writing, nor X since October 23^rd. His last BlueSky post was one complaining about how he couldn’t afford a master class by Fantasy and Science Fiction’s editor for a writing residency in Mexico. Even before he was shunned by SFWA’s elite, it’s clear that these diversity fiction markets don’t pay in anything but clout.

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