By Gavin Mackintosh-
Nigeria ’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, has apologized, following widespread criticism that he plagiarised Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech.
The recently elected president promised to punish those responsible for the debacle. Obama and Buhari leaders are scheduled to meet at a meeting next in New York next week on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly session.
The mess up was first exposed by a Nigerian journalist from Nigerian tabloid ‘This Day newspaper’, the eye of media.com has learn’t. Adeola Akinremi rebuked “the moral problem of plagiarism on a day Mr President launched a campaign to demand honesty and integrity”.
The plagiarised script by Buhari on 8 September, when he launched a campaign entitled “Change Begins With Me”, contained several sentences that bore an uncanny resemblance to Obama’s speech of 8 years ago.
Buhari said: “We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long.”
It is not the first time the U.S president- credited for his smooth linguistic qualities- has been plagiarized. Earlier this year, sections of a speech delivered to the Republican convention by Melania Trump- wife of presidential candidate Donald Trump, similarly had a striking resemblance to passages of a speech given by Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic convention.
Obama and Buhari are expected to talk about continued US support for security and economic changes in Nigeria,-Africa’s most populous country.
The White House confirmed plans to promote trade between the US and Nigeria on Wednesday, when the pair attend a summit with hundreds of US and African chief executives and African heads of state.
Mohammed Buhari won the elections when he won the 2015 elections , dethroning former President, Jonathan Goodluck.