₦airaland Forum

Plagiarism is not a trivial matter.

President Muhammadu Buhari made a terrible mistake last Thursday. He plagiarized President Barack Obama’s speech to launch “change begins with me.”

So you didn’t notice that our president lifted from Obama’s 2008 victory speech and passed it off as if the words were his own?

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.

I’m not a wailing wailer and I don’t like the downfall of any man but I also don’t like to be deceived.

The very last thing you should do when you’re launching a campaign like this is to be dishonest with the people.

As Buhari talked down on Nigerians during the launch of the campaign spearheaded by no other person, other than the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, known for his trash-talk, particularly for the opposition, I started following the speech line-by-line.

I was alarmed to make the discovery. It was a scandal that escaped the attention of our newspapers. It is one of two things: either people don’t pay particular attention to Buhari’s words or we are a nation of anything goes.

Only in July, Melania Trump, the wife of the Republican White House hopeful, Donald Trump, was caught in the web of plagiarism after she spoke at the Republican National Convention. She plagiarized Michelle Obama’s speech. It was a big headline on television screen and national newspapers. Indeed it was a “global” headline.

Yes, a prime part of Buhari’s speech to the nation last Thursday to launch a campaign encouraging new culture of transparency, attitudinal change and hard work among Nigerians was plagiarized from America’s President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech.

Buhari’s speech during the launch of the “change begins with me”, a new national orientation campaign, contained largely the same sentiment and arrangement of words that President Obama used in his 2008 victory speech after he was elected the first American black president.

The president lifted a whole paragraph from Obama’s speech and passed it off as his own when he 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.”

President Obama used the precise words at a rally in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, United States, after winning the race for the White House in November 2008.
Eight years ago, Obama said: “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.

“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.”

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.
Now, this is what I think must have happened, an incompetent speech writer handed the speech to Buhari with no fact checking method by the president’s men that should have saved the president from this embarrassment.

I know this that with the vast opportunity provided by the internet, it’s so tempting to plagiarize, but the same internet provides opportunity to discover plagiarists.

It’s particularly troubling that the president has no inspiring words of his own other than to steal from someone.
And this, it is pathetic that this “change” conversation is taking new dimension from what we expected.

In the midst of its failure, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is asking Nigerians to change their ways, blaming everything why the country is not working on Nigerians’ attitudes.

The blame game is moving away from Goodluck Jonathan years, the only defense for failure that APC has so far used.

Interestingly, the world is watching Buhari and the story of his plagiarism may have crossed the Atlantic without him knowing. Americans don’t joke with such issue. They name and shame plagiarists.

Next week, when Buhari take his turn to address the 71st regular session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Americans will scrutinize his words and check his facts.

Before that time, it is my submission that Buhari needs to apologize to Nigerians for plagiarizing on a day he launched “change begins with me.” Will Buhari apologize?
Follow me on Twitter:@adeolaakinremi1

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/09/16/buharis-plagiarized-speech-in-change-begins-with-me/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

Apologise ke? Buhari will be like these 200 million mumu neva see anytin yet.

Even here on NL plagiarism is a crime.
I can't forget how I was made to forfeit 20marks of my term paper in year one first semester (Secondary School's failure).
Lets say NO to plagiarism in Nigeria.
Lalasticlala pls say NO to plagiarism.

Hope this will make bag of rice 7k

Are you saying its a crime to say what other people have said that best fit your situation? Come on, since using the economic recession did not pay off well, now he is now a copy copy. Why are you mad at him OP? He is just a certificateless president so he borrowed those words from his senior colleague. Its not a crime.

God bless PMB

not surprised hes clueless nd a dullard

useless thread .How is that a crime?plagiarized kor,panadol ni.if the speech dey vex una,u can jump into Marina water,God nor go vex.

Really? Has anyone else confirmed this? This will be double wahala because there is someone already complaining that Lai Mohammed plagiarised his "Not in my country" campaign for the Change begins with me, using his storylines and clips without his approval.

Only God knows how many textbooks the OP must have dubbed 'word-for-word' during his school days.

While it is bad for educated peeps to use other people's works without giving credit to them, Africa leaders may believe that speech is speech joo. So long it matches the context of events.

Nice observation. I rarely read govt addresses these days to be honest, I sincerely don't expect anything great from this team and I pray they prove me wrong. Plagiarism is a big issue but ours is a country where anything goes, sadly it may not attract the attention it deserves.

Plagiarism is a serious crime.
Buhari and those writing speeches for him should be held responsible.

Why am I not surprised. He sees nothing good in Jonathan's administration yet it was reported that he was coping GEJ's policies particularly in agriculture. The other day it was lie lie mohammed doing the copying.

In fact, APC and plagiarism are like

To clear all doubt, I used a plagiarism checker online and this is the result below

http://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/

100% plagiarized!!!

That is kwarapshian

If this is true, it must not get outside Nigeria.
Let's keep it a secret and correct our mistakes. I hate Nigeria being embarrassed like this.

Innovation and creativity seems to be low in this present administration.

Like Melania Trump like Bubu

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/melania-trump-speech-plagiarized_us_578da752e4b0a0ae97c33675




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LTMQ3jYiXU

Accusations here and there, where's the original write up

bennyann:
If this is true, it must not get outside Nigeria.
Let's keep it a secret and correct our mistakes. I hate Nigeria being embarrassed like this.

no worry.... lalasticlala is already keeping it as a "secret"

Hmmmm ...

Copy copy, i am not surprised.

Mynd44:
https://www.nairaland.com/3353267/buhari-accused-plagiarising-obamas-speech

1) Buhari’s Plagiarized Speech In “change Begins With Me” by ped007(m): 5:33am On Sep 16

2) Buhari Accused Of Plagiarising Obama’s Speech by Vicadonis(m): 3:13pm On Sep 16