Buhari apologises for plagiarising Obama
President Muhammadu Buhari says the similarities between his September 8 speech and one American President Barack Obama delivered in 2008 “are too close to be passed as coincidence”.
Buhari’s brutal honesty will be praised by many who criticised the president for “stealing” someone’s words in a speech delivered to urge Nigerians to change from their “immoral” ways.
The president “has ordered that prompt and appropriate disciplinary action be taken against those responsible for a wrongful insertion” of Obama’s words in the speech, a Presidency statement reads, Friday night.
“There was a mistake by an overzealous staff and we regret that this has happened.
“Already, a Deputy Director in the Presidency has accepted responsibility for the insertion of the contentious paragraph.
“This serious oversight will be investigated thoroughly and appropriate sanction meted.
“The Presidency wishes to state in the clearest possible terms that it regrets this unfortunate incident and will ensure that this does not happen again.
“President Buhari urges Nigerians to look beyond this incident and focus on the message of change which the country needs in order to restore our cherished value systems,” the statement reads.
ThisDay columnist Adeola Akinremi who first spotted the apparent plagiarism condemned Buhari and his handlers.
Buhari delivered the speech on September 8 to launch his heavily criticised “Change Begins With Me” national orientation campaign.
The campaign itself, it was later alleged, was someone else’s idea stolen by information and culture minister Lai Mohammed. Mohammed denied the claims.
