Over the past few days, reports has been circulation viral online that controversial social media influential and daughter of ex-Governor of Oyo-State, Omololu Olunloyo, Kemi Omololu Olunloyo, has been dropped as keynote speaker for this year’s edition of TEDx Bodija that will be holding on 6th of December at Le Chateau Event Center at Old Bodija.
The organizer of the world renowned tech & design conference in Ibadan, has dropped Kemi as the keynote speaker for the popular event this year. Though people have started questioning the reason behind her removal as keynote speaker for the tech & design conference.
Kemi Omololu Olunloyo, took to her social media to address the issue and also express the reason behind her removal form the tech & design conference.
Despite her removal as speaker for the TEDx Bodija, Kemi still encourage her fans to go out for the event.
VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO MY FANS TO READ CAREFULLY WHY I DECLINED TEDXBODIJA INVITE AND DROPPED OUT AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR ANNUAL DECEMBER 6th CONFERENCE TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences run by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan “Ideas Worth Spreading”. TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event; the annual conference series began in… 1990. TED’s early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its Silicon Valley origins, but it has since broadened its focus to include talks on many scientific, cultural, and academic topics. TEDx are independent TED-like events, which can be organized by anyone who obtains a free license from TED, agreeing to follow certain principles. TEDx events are non-profit, but may use an admission fee or commercial sponsorship to cover costs. Similarly, speakers are not paid. They must also relinquish the copyrights to their materials, which TED may edit and distribute under a Creative Commons license. There are 3 known TedX events in Nigeria. TedX Bodija in Ibadan, TedX Ikeja in Lagos and TedX Abuja. I have spoken at a Ted event in Canada alongside American celebrities and a US Vice president. Ted talks is not new to me. I was invited to TedXBodija in 2014 and was even asked to speak for 5 minutes in what many coined the “5 mins that lit up the event” a 20 min speech that lasted five mins. I make an impact wherever I go whether Im getting paid $10,000 or nothing. WHY I QUIT has been a subject of talk in Ibadan as many youths were coming just to meet me and hear me talk. I always pull a crowd wherever I talk in person. Many only hear me talk online. I stand for people and communities. My photo shows me at the red carpet arrival at the Toronto Police Service Chief of police dinner where anti-crime advocates are honored. My impact is felt globally and many of u dont know me cos I did not live here 37 years. If you are going, pls dont cancel. Attend and network with the speakers. There are 13 very famous speakers this year. You could learn something. The theme is “Thinking Upside Down” and the keynote speech ASSIGNED to me was “The Fear of Controversy” which is a topic I should know well. I discuss several controversial topics online and labeled as controversial in Nigeria but not in the USA where I grew up 30 years of my life. When u speak the truth here u are controversial as many of u are raised in lies. Every speaker is supposed to send a summary of their speech and slides they intend to use to TedXBodija. I did. My submission included a photo of me and controversial ppl and things. Denrele Edun, Kanye West and me holding the #Biafra flag among other slides. The organizers of this event are good friends of mine. WHAT I GOT back in an e-mail reply was: “You cannot use the image of the Biafran flag at our event You cannot talk about Biafra at our event Biafra is a national security threat and we have an international brand to protect.” #HNNAfrica is also an international brand. I report world and health news and have 51,000 on a verified Facebook page, 57,000 on Twitter, 16 million views on a verified Google acct and 21,000 on instagram. I have no news staff and work as an independent international journalist. I will never taint anyone’s brand so I stood firm and pulled out. Like my sister Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, you must be yourself and not allow anyone to censor you because they are paying u, sponsoring you or giving you some exposure or platform….Something I always preach on #socialmedia. For an organization that wants me to speak about the fear of controversy and avoiding the same controversy, I feel that is fake and self serving. TedXBodija wanted me to submit my entire speech to approve before I go on stage. I totally DECLINED. Femi Babalogbon will always be my friend. He truly appreciated my decision and thanked me. Not only that #Biafra is a controversial topic right now, it must be discussed and brought into the spotlight, something the international media has avoided and the local media are sluggish with. I have been the only Journalist on the globe to give a platform and voice to Biafrans tweeting since my online chat November 2nd 2015. In 2009 I was on Larry King Live on CNN when Larry asked me how I saw Nigeria in 5 yrs fighting terror. I responded…”Nigeria will be a full blown terrorist country”. The Nigerian media avoided reporting about #BokoHaram then because it was “too sensitive”. Today it has blown up in our faces. We are a full blown terrorist country. This is the time to talk about BIAFRA. Not only did I become a self proclaimed Biafran yesterday as my own choice and adding an Igbo name to my profile, something FB needs to approve on verified pages, it is time we not turn our faces away from the truth. The fear of controversy is real. The theme of my social media tour will be exactly that. Register for #MySMTour2016 on my events menu. For those anticipating on meeting me, pls come to Lagos as Ibadan is not on my tour list anymore as the Lagos fans surpassed IB. I realize its my hometown but I go where Im celebrated, appreciated and needed. I keep it real. THANKS FOR READING AND PLS SHARE. Dr Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo Twitter@hnnafrica #MadamKOO