The speech by President Muhammadu Buhari at the launch of the ‘Change begins with me was allegedly plagiarised.
Parts of the President’s speech was plagiarised from United States President Barrack Obama’s November 4, 2008 victory speech in Chicago.
A ThisDay columnist Adeola Akinremi made the observation his column for the paper on Friday.
A check of both speeches showed that indeed parts of Obama’s speech were lifted verbatim.
Following his victory, Obama challenged Americans to avoid going back to the way things were as change could not happen that way.
Obama said, “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.
“Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
“In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.”
Buhari said same his speech at the inauguration of his social reorientation campaign on September 8.
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.
“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.
“What the current problem has taught us is that we cannot have a thriving army of rent seekers and vested interests, while the majority suffers.”
The Presidency has yet to react to the plagiarism scandal,
The Columnist, Akinremi, added that “The argument will rage, but the moral problem of plagiarism on a day Mr. President launched a campaign to demand honesty and integrity from the people is what we should concern ourselves with”.
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