Critics question whether Buhari reads his speeches before delivering them

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has
come under fire from critics after admitting
part of his recent “Change Begins With Me”
speech was copied from US President Barack
Obama’s 2008 victory speech.
Buhari announced the social initiative earlier
this month urging Nigerians to stop bribing
and littering in a programme that continues
his “war against indiscipline” launched while
serving as military ruler in the 1980’s.
“We must resist the temptation to fall back on
the same partisanship, pettiness and
immaturity that have poisoned our country for
so long,” Buhari said at a ceremony held in
the nation’s capital of Abuja.
The presidency was forced to issue a
statement late Friday night acknowledging
that the line was lifted from Obama.
“It was observed that the similarities between
a paragraph in President Obama’s 2008
victory speech…are too close to be passed as
coincidence,” presidential spokesman Garba
Shehu said in a statement, adding that an
“overzealous” speech writer will face
“appropriate sanction”.
Critics questioned whether Buhari was reading
his speeches before delivering them, and
worried that the flub was tarnishing Nigeria’s
image abroad as international leaders prepare
to meet in New York this week for the UN
General Assembly.
“The president and his aides just have to do
better,” opposition party member Adeyanju
Deji said in a Twitter post. “We plead guys,
stop embarrassing our great nation.”
This isn’t the first time that Buhari’s team
has borrowed from American campaigns.
Another one of the president’s lines has been
“make Nigeria great again” a copy of “make
America great again”, the slogan used by US
presidential candidate Donald Trump and
before him by Ronald Reagan.