Nigeria’s Buhari in fresh plagiarism scandal of U.S Obama’s speech

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. 

According to a columnist, he was the first to spot possible instances of plagiarism between Mr. Buhari’s speech and a speech delivered by Mr. Obama after his victory when he was first elected in November, 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, It was said that 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. 

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.The National Examination Council (NECO) has released the result of the 2016 June/July Senior School Certificate Examination. The Nation reports that the result was released on Friday, September 16 with 88.51 per cent of the candidates obtaining five credits pass and above in English Language and Mathematics. READ ALSO: WAEC moves to avoid clashes with INEC in the future Prof. Charles Uwakwe who is the registrar of NECO announced the release of the result at the headquarters of the exam body in Minna, Niger state. He noted that there was a one per cent increase in the general performance of candidates in this year’s compared with 2015. 905,011 which makes up 88.51 per cent out of the 1,022,474 candidates that sat for the examination in Nigeria and other countries got five credits and above, while 84.54 per cent got credit pass and above in English Language and 80.16 per cent obtained credit pass and above in Mathematics. Uwakwe noted that 14 schools have been derecognized by NECO for examination malpractice while 194 schools were involved in mass cheating. He expressed shock at the alarming growth of examination malpractice in the country and warned that any school involved in malpractice will be derecognised. He attributed the increased candidates’ performance in the examination to the staff of NECO. He also applauded the contributions from his predecessors who have laid a good foundation and the seriousness of the candidates. READ ALSO: Student gives ‘unusual’ reason for dropping out of university Uwakwe said: “I want to solicit for support from all our stakeholders. NECO should be seen as a Nigerian baby that requires the care and support of all to enable her attain that first class international status. We are working hard to ensure NECO makes her mark in the global assessment industry.” He also applauded the students for their good performance and said the results could be accessed on the examination’s website.

Read more: https://www.naij.com/971296-just-neco-result-release-details-candidates-performance.htmlThe National Examination Council (NECO) has released the result of the 2016 June/July Senior School Certificate Examination. The Nation reports that the result was released on Friday, September 16 with 88.51 per cent of the candidates obtaining five credits pass and above in English Language and Mathematics. READ ALSO: WAEC moves to avoid clashes with INEC in the future Prof. Charles Uwakwe who is the registrar of NECO announced the release of the result at the headquarters of the exam body in Minna, Niger state. He noted that there was a one per cent increase in the general performance of candidates in this year’s compared with 2015. 905,011 which makes up 88.51 per cent out of the 1,022,474 candidates that sat for the examination in Nigeria and other countries got five credits and above, while 84.54 per cent got credit pass and above in English Language and 80.16 per cent obtained credit pass and above in Mathematics. Uwakwe noted that 14 schools have been derecognized by NECO for examination malpractice while 194 schools were involved in mass cheating. He expressed shock at the alarming growth of examination malpractice in the country and warned that any school involved in malpractice will be derecognised. He attributed the increased candidates’ performance in the examination to the staff of NECO. He also applauded the contributions from his predecessors who have laid a good foundation and the seriousness of the candidates. READ ALSO: Student gives ‘unusual’ reason for dropping out of university Uwakwe said: “I want to solicit for support from all our stakeholders. NECO should be seen as a Nigerian baby that requires the care and support of all to enable her attain that first class international status. We are working hard to ensure NECO makes her mark in the global assessment industry.” He also applauded the students for their good performance and said the results could be accessed on the examination’s website.

Read more: https://www.naij.com/971296-just-neco-result-release-details-candidates-performance.htmlRead more: https://www.naij.com/971296-just-neco-result-release-details-candidates-performance.htmlThe National Examination Council (NECO) has released the result of the 2016 June/July Senior School Certificate Examination. The Nation reports that the result was released on Friday, September 16 with 88.51 per cent of the candidates obtaining five credits pass and above in English Language and Mathematics. READ ALSO: WAEC moves to avoid clashes with INEC in the future Prof. Charles Uwakwe who is the registrar of NECO announced the release of the result at the headquarters of the exam body in Minna, Niger state. He noted that there was a one per cent increase in the general performance of candidates in this year’s compared with 2015. 905,011 which makes up 88.51 per cent out of the 1,022,474 candidates that sat for the examination in Nigeria and other countries got five credits and above, while 84.54 per cent got credit pass and above in English Language and 80.16 per cent obtained credit pass and above in Mathematics. Uwakwe noted that 14 schools have been derecognized by NECO for examination malpractice while 194 schools were involved in mass cheating. He expressed shock at the alarming growth of examination malpractice in the country and warned that any school involved in malpractice will be derecognised. He attributed the increased candidates’ performance in the examination to the staff of NECO. He also applauded the contributions from his predecessors who have laid a good foundation and the seriousness of the candidates. READ ALSO: Student gives ‘unusual’ reason for dropping out of university Uwakwe said: “I want to solicit for support from all our stakeholders. NECO should be seen as a Nigerian baby that requires the care and support of all to enable her attain that first class international status. We are working hard to ensure NECO makes her mark in the global assessment industry.” He also applauded the students for their good performance and said the results could be accessed on the examination’s website.

Read more: https://www.naij.com/971296-just-neco-result-release-details-candidates-performance.html