VOICE CLONING SCANDAL: FBI INVESTIGATES IN AMERICA WHILE NIGERIA PROMOTES SAME WITH SANDRA DURU
In a world where anyone can fake your voice, create your image, and lie in your name, the greatest danger is not technology, but the people using it. Sandra Duru is that pandemic and Nigeria must act.
There was a time not long ago when if a person spoke, you knew they had spoken. If a woman made a statement, she could defend it. If a man was accused, his voice could clear him. Now, in this strange world we are waking up to, a person can be condemned by words they never uttered and disgraced by actions they never committed. The case of Sandra Duru and the ongoing manipulation of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s voice is not some faraway science fiction story. It is a clear example of how deep this corruption has sunk. What we are seeing now is a generation of people who are not just stealing money, they are now stealing identity. They are no longer waiting to lie against you. They are creating the lie in your own voice and dressing it with your face.
When the FBI begins to investigate a case as serious as the impersonation of Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, it should shake the conscience of any country that is still pretending that this matter is a small thing. It is no longer about politics. It is now about truth and survival. Imagine the danger. A stranger reaches out to respected lawmakers in America, asking them for a list of people who should be pardoned, posing as one of the President’s top advisers. The person was believed at first. Messages were answered. Conversations went on. Until the mistake began to smell. That is how fragile the world has become. A criminal can hide behind a telephone screen and walk into the private corridors of power, without leaving their bedroom. They no longer need weapons to destroy a man’s reputation. All they need now is a copy of his voice and a stolen phone number.
This is the very madness that Sandra Duru represents. This is not a woman of credibility. It is public knowledge that her history is one of trouble. There are records of blackmail, stories of extortion and claims of impersonation. There is hardly any good thing tied to her name in recent years. What is troubling now is that this woman, who already has such a dangerous record, is now being linked to the cloning of Senator Natasha’s voice. A voice that speaks with grace, a voice that holds truth, a voice that has fought for the dignity of women in this country. For someone to sit in a dark room and manufacture such a voice for the purpose of confusion, mischief, or manipulation is not just criminal. It is wicked, evil, and nothing short of an attack on the very idea of identity and justice.
What kind of society are we building if a woman cannot even trust the sound of her own voice? If a video comes out tomorrow showing you saying things you never said, how will you defend yourself? When even the tone and expression sound like you? This is a serious matter. If an American official, sitting at the heart of the White House, can be impersonated through the very phone in her hand, then what chance does a young girl in Kogi have? What defence does a politician in Rivers State have? What protection does a business owner in Enugu have? None, and that is the frightening reality. If this madness is not stopped, the future will become a place where the truth will be buried by lies that look too real to question.
We cannot continue to joke with this issue. Already, private information has been leaked in the United States through unsecured group chats. Signal conversations among top officials have been exposed. Sensitive plans discussed carelessly. One wrong name added to a group, and private matters are now flying around in the hands of journalists. That is how foolish this digital age has made even the most powerful people. If they can be careless, how much more those of us in developing countries who lack both the discipline and the infrastructure to manage such threats? The Nigerian government must open its eyes. Those in charge must begin to look into these growing dangers, and not just as a form of technology, but as a new weapon that is already in the hands of dishonest people like Sandra Duru.
The truth is bitter, but it must be swallowed. We are now at the mercy of those who know how to use AI machines to lie. The person who owns your voice now owns your truth. The person who controls your image now controls your name. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is only the beginning. If nothing is done, many more will fall victim. Many more will be silenced by voices that are not theirs.
Sandra Duru should not just be ignored. She must be investigated, exposed, and held accountable. This is a statement of fact. The world is changing fast, and if we do not wake up, we will be buried under the lies of those who use technological machines to commit crimes while pretending to be innocent. Any society that allows this nonsense to continue is preparing for a time when truth will be killed, and no one will even remember how it once sounded.
By: ILUO DePOET
Lawyer | Public Speaker | Author | Political Analyst | Pan-African