Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has
blamed an "overzealous" staff member for
plagiarising parts of a speech by Barack
Obama.
Several passages of a speech Mr Buhari made on
8 September overlapped with President Obama's
address after winning election in 2008.
His office admitted the sentences were "too close
to be passed as coincidence".
The two men are due to meet at the UN General
Assembly next week.
"There was a mistake by an overzealous staff and
we regret that this has happened," Mr Buhari's
spokesman Garba Shehu wrote on Twitter, saying
those responsible would be punished.
"President Buhari urges Nigerians to look beyond
this incident and focus on the message of change
which the country needs in order to restore our
cherished value systems."
One of the offending passages
Buhari: "We must resist the temptation to fall
back on the same partisanship, pettiness and
immaturity that have poisoned our country for so
long."
Obama: "Let us resist the temptation to fall back
on the same partisanship and pettiness and
immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so
long.''
Mr Buhari used the copied extracts in launching a
campaign called "Change Begins With Me", part
of a bid to tackle corruption in Nigeria.
The irony was not lost to some online, who
mocked Mr Buhari.
On the BBC Africa Facebook page though,
others were more sympathetic.
"So what's the big deal? Famous lines from great
people are used over and over again by others,"
wrote one commentator.
"The message conveyed is the most important
thing."
Earlier this year Melania Trump, the wife of
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump,
was accused of plagiarising portions of Michelle
Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention
speech.

www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37395605

Na who PMB dey blame he nor get brain abi he nor fit read. Oh! i forget he nor go school na only gun he sabi hold.