The presidency has confirmed that a part of the speech delivered by
President Muhammadu Buhari on September 8, 2016, at the launch of the
“Change Begins with Me” campaign was plagiarised.
A deputy
director in the Presidency, who has claimed responsibility for the
plagiarism, would be sanctioned, said a presidential spokesman Garba
Shehu in a statement.
There were huge similarities between a
paragraph in President Obama’s 2008 Victory Speech and what President
Buhari read in paragraph nine of the sixteen-paragraph address while
inaugurating the campaign in Abuja.
The president’s speech read in
part “We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same
partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country
for so long. Let us summon a new spirit of responsibility, spirit of
service, of patriotism and sacrifice. Let us all resolve to pitch in and
work hard and look after, not only ourselves but one another.”
Obama
had in different parts of his 2008 victory speech said: “Let’s resist
the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and
immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long…
“So let us
summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us
resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves
but each other.”
Shehu said the incident was regrettable and unfortunate while promising that it will not happen again.
He
Nigerians to look beyond the incident and focus on the message of
change which the country needs in order to restore our cherished value
systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment