September 16, 2016 Samuel Ogundipe

President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign suffered a setback Friday following a newspaper report that the president allegedly plagiarised President Barack Obama in the speech he delivered while launching the project.

The government says the campaign will help curb “widespread act of immorality” by Nigerians.

The report, which detailed how Mr. Buhari allegedly lifted quotes from a 2008 speech by Mr. Obama, came on the heels of another damaging allegation that the ‘Change Begins With Me’ campaign contained elements belonging to another anti-corruption effort, ‘Not in My Country’.

Mr. Buhari on September 8 launched the ‘reorientation’ campaign in Abuja as part of his government’s strategy to make Nigerians eschew “dishonesty, indolence, unbridled corruption and widespread impunity” and embrace daily introspection over their “immoral” conducts.

He also used the occasion to sue for national consensus amongst Nigerians on issues ranging from spirit of service to patriotism.

“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,” Mr. Buhari said.

But facts have emerged indicating Mr. Buhari did not author those quotes.


Adeola Akinremi, a columnist with Lagos-based THISDAY Newspaper, was the first to spot possible instances of plagiarism between Mr. Buhari’s speech and a speech delivered by Mr. Obama when he was first elected in 2008.

In a speech delivered after his victory on November 4, 2008, Mr. Obama said to a crowd of enthusiastic supporters:

“Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and 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. “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.”

After highlighting the seeming plagiarism, Mr. Akinremi said the act was “unethical” and lampooned Mr. Buhari for allegedly indulging in it.

“It is immoral to plagiarize other people’s work, but even worse to use dishonesty to launch a campaign about honesty.

“When you use another person’s work without acknowledgement, you have plagiarized. You simply pretend as if it is your own. It is unethical. It makes a mess of the campaign from the start. That is what Buhari has done, nobody will believe in the ‘change begins with me’ campaign, because it was built on lies,” Mr. Akinremi said.

When contacted Friday morning, presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said he was just becoming aware of the allegation and that the presidency would investigate.

Mr. Akinremi’s column was published a week after associates of Akin Fadeyi, creator of ‘Not In My Country’ accused the Buhari administration of stealing his concept to launch ‘Change Begins with Me.’

The associates said Mr. Fadeyi, a creative artist and former head of communications at Airtel Nigeria, met with the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in December 2015 to intimate him of ‘Not In My Country,’ an episodic narrative that deploys humour to underscore societal ills and appeal to Nigerians to shun sharp practices.

They said Mr. Mohammed declined interest in the concept, only to turn around to adapt it for ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign.

But Mr. Mohammed denied the allegations, saying he started ‘Change Begins with Me’ before he was appointed minister.

“We started working on ‘Change Begins with Me’ before the honourable minister was nominated and we’ve been working with the agency that produced the campaign,” Mr. Mohammed’s associate said.

The ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign had earned Mr. Buhari widespread criticism, with many Nigerians accusing him of shifting blames to them and wondering why they gave him their mandate if he would ultimately saddle them with the duty of effecting the change he promised.


But the government said the campaign became necessary to rally all Nigerians in the effort to cleanse the country of corruption and other malaise plaguing it.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/210515-nigerias-president-buhari-in-fresh-plagiarism-scandal-of-obamas-speech.html

Really? This won't go down well with Nigerians if it happens to be true

hmmm

... this people tagged APC sef..

Weither he authored it or not

CHANGE BEGIN WITH ME

This is the kind of change you want me to believe begins with me?

Only God will repay you for what you've made us to pass through in the last 1yr +


If you like, defend your dullard president! Na thunder go fire all of Una together

The kind of OLODOS in APC.......copy and paste budget nw again dem don go copy all the way from America.

Buhari is the 13th plague that would have happened to the Children of Israelites in Egypt


He is the 8th wonder of the world with his glaring dumbness


He takes the award for Eze ndi slowpoke.



Thank God he didn't end with God bless America

Chai! .This will be another national embarrassment of unimaginable proportion (This reminds one of Trump's wife plagiarism of Mrs.Obama's previous speech) APC no go kill Nigerians oh. Even the "Change Begins With Me" campaign is also conned based on lies just like Buhari's certificate issue.Anyway since he's an illiterate,how will Buhari know if the speech written for him is genuine or otherwise. America may soon denounce Aishia's controversial visit.Abeg APC change is no by force.Enough of these lies.Team-#CHANGEBEGINSWITHLIES(Credit to a good friend).

The mugun lacks all the basic requisites of what a Class-Rep should not be, talk less of a President. With the degree of brainpower at his disposal, even an SS3 student would have written his speeches. So if dem copy, how e wan take know?

And he's surrounded by hate-filled, rumor-mongering, thieving and scheming-advisors; so who can tell am even if he wan enter pit?!

God help Nigeria

All the zombies should come out to defend this "Comrade Napoleon is always right" president (Credits;George Orwell a.k.a.Eric Arthur Blair,Author-Animal Farm)

Copy and Paste or plagiarism in this context is not a crime, is it? People do copy part of each other's work. artistes, writers, film directors, students, are all guilty of this, it's not a new thing...next!

[/b]Mr. Akinremi’s column was published a week after associates of Akin Fadeyi, creator of ‘Not In My Country’ accused the Buhari administration of stealing his concept to launch ‘Change Begins with Me.’

The associates said Mr. Fadeyi, a creative artist and former head of communications at Airtel Nigeria, met with the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in December 2015 to intimate him of ‘Not In My Country,’ an episodic narrative that deploys humour to underscore societal ills and appeal to Nigerians to shun sharp practices.

They said Mr. Mohammed declined interest in the concept, only to turn around to adapt it for ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign.

But Mr. Mohammed denied the allegations, saying he started ‘Change Begins with Me’ before he was appointed minister.

“We started working on ‘Change Begins with Me’ before the honourable minister was nominated and we’ve been working with the agency that produced the campaign. Mr.Mohammed’s associate said."[b] .Lai-Lying-Liar Muhammed have really perfected his mastery of lying a long time ago.How can Nigeria develop its potentials with a government of lies,deceit?#CHANGEBEGINSWITHPROPAGANDA.

mars123:
Copy and Paste or plagiarism is not a crime, is it? People do copy part of each other's work. artistes, writers, film directors, students, are all guilty of this, it's not a new thing...next!

As usual they have started arriving.When you do so then give credit to whom it's due.Do you know the effects of what the president have done? Have you done a project work & another person plagiarized it? Don't be daft bro.

Paperwhite:
As usual they have started arriving.When you do so then give credit to whom it's due.Have you done a project work & another person plagiarized it? Don't be daft bro.

so you would have preferred he started quoting references after he finished the speech? you should be smarter than this.

For your information, plagiarism is when you copy someones work and take credit for it. then u can be stripped of honours and taken to court too, this I know.

But you cannot tell me Buhari has committed a crime by using part of someone's speech. Why because a speech is a vocalised form of communication, when its rephrased, becomes original. and hence its not a crime to copy part of someone speech if it fits with the occasion. leaders everywhere every time do it and you can research if you want.

moreover credit can't be given in this case because it was rephrased hence you can't say "like Obama said". The writers(criminal minds or not) are very aware and more learned than you are too.

After all my explanation though, you are still free to have an opinion that matters to no one, not even the original owner of the speech. Because haters can't be reasoned with.

DTOBS:
This is the kind of change you want me to believe begins with me?

Only God will repay you for what you've made us to pass through in the last 1yr +


If you like, defend your dullard president! Na thunder go fire all of Una together

Olopa ewo n tepe

amodu:


Olopa ewo n tepe

Lol... Olopa go shepe when his family are dying...

This man is not satisfied stealing our happiness. He has gone international now stealing other people's speeches. Why do i feel that before 2019 we might end up having a major receiver of stolen goods as president

mars123:
so you would have preferred he started quoting references after he finished the speech? you should be smarter than this.

Just smell yourself and perceive what is coming out of your mouth!
Plagiarism is a big offence, minor or major not to even talk of the PRESIDENT of a country. When you use part of someone's work, you give credit for that and don't let it seem as if it's your brain whereas you have none.
Why is he having numerous SAs PAs SSAs and even a Minister all on media/Information? Oooops, I forgot, they are all bunch of jokers.
Change is really beginning with them indeed.

forged and fake certificate

copied speeches etc


can someone jist eject the dollard into the stratosphere


cause we r better not having a president that having this bio hazardic dunce in aso rock

DTOBS:

Just smell yourself and perceive what is coming out of your mouth!
Plagiarism is a big offence, minor or major not to even talk of the PRESIDENT of a country. When you use part of someone's work, you give credit for that and don't let it seem as if it's your brain whereas you have none.
Why is he having numerous SAs PAs SSAs and even a Minister all on media/Information? Oooops, I forgot, they are all bunch of jokers.
Change is really beginning with them indeed.

You even have time to waste with these zombies still?

mars123:
so you would have preferred he started quoting references after he finished the speech? you should be smarter than this.

God! You are trying to defend this? Seriously? You are not smart, not even in the least sense of the word.

Plagiarism is a crime. You copy from someone else's work, you credit the work to them. Period! He should have said something like this 'Just like President Obama said in his 2008 inauguration speech, I also...'

But then, what do you expect from a president and his supporters who are not smart. The economy is an attestation to that fact.

Paperwhite:
You even have time to waste with these zombies still?

They actually need someone to tell them we are not daft like them.

mars123:
so you would have preferred he started quoting references after he finished the speech? you should be smarter than this.

Do you slowpoke brain knows the implication of what the dull president have done? You own stupidity seems worst than his. #CHANGEBEGINSWITHLIES.

Watch them shy away from this thread like it's a plague

Myndd44 and Lalasticlala...this same topic is being discussed on BBC Africa right now. Let's take it 'home'.

DTOBS:

They actually need someone to tell them we are not daft like them.

Well if it's the education,one prays that they receive it on time before it will be too late but will the zombie spirit allow it?

Paperwhite:
Well if it's the education,one pray that they receive it on time before it's to late but will the zombie spirit allow it?

Lolzzz

zicoraads:
Watch them shy away from this thread like it's a plague

Myndd44 and Lalasticlala...this same topic is being discussed on BBC Africa right now. Let's take it 'home'.

Chineke! Oluwa o! Ya Ubangiji na! You mean it bro?

hahahahahaha d dullard never disappoint. every tin about dis govt is just SCAM. can thieves teach honesty from stealing ''change idea'' project to stealing obama's speech.
plagiarizing pipuls work to launch ''change begins with me'' project, a campaign dat was suppose to promote honesty is d worst form of kworuption. u can't use kworuption to fight corruption.
d dullard is a crook!

Paperwhite:
Chineke! Oluwa o! Ya Ubangiji na! You mean it bro?

Yup...just commented on their Facebook page.