Sweet and Sour

When it comes to the internet and news from Nigeria, you think it’s going to be about some Nigerian prince who just won the lottery. 

Not this time, with the news that Chioma Okoli could face seven years in prison for writing a damning online review of tomato puree. 

Last September, the pregnant mother of three posted to Facebook about Erisco’s Nagiko Tomato Mix.

She was arrested by Nigeria’s national police in September while she was in church
She was charged with conspiring with two other individuals with ‘the intention of instigating people against Erisco Foods Limited’, and may have to go to prison for up to seven years. 

She was also charged with ‘instigating Erisco Foods Limited, knowing the said information to be false’, a crime that could end with her going to prison for three years.

Additionally, they are bringing a civil lawsuit against her, saying that ‘several suppliers’ cut ties with the company following her remarks, and is seeking £2.8 million) in damages.

There’s a couple of things to bear in mind. 

It doesn’t matter how bad the review is, nothing justifies putting a pregnant mother in prison for writing one. Doing so will backfire so spectacularly that the negative PR from it would be a million times worse than any negative review could be. 

This demonstrates how oblivious people are of the Streisand effect. This absurd situation has made worldwide news and now far more people know about Erisco Foods and what they’re doing than would have if they just let it go. When people are protesting in the streets, you’ve lost the PR war. 

Sam Bankman-Fried just received a 25 year sentence for defrauding billions of dollars. Given this, the idea that someone would receive a 7 year sentence for a negative review is absolutely preposterous. 

This also highlights the inadequacy of reviews. Fake ones get away as they please, while real ones get punished. So how should Erisco Foods have responded? They should have thanked Chioma for her review and compensated her. 

Even now, it’s not too late to sort this out. First they drop all charges against her and compensate her accordingly. Then they work with her to put out a Limited Edition Not Too Sweet Special Chioma Okoli version of Nagiko Tomato Mix.

The goodwill and publicity generated would be worth millions. 

This would be in stark contrast to the way Erisco Foods has gone about it to date, which has been a textbook version of what not to do. 

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