Nigeria’s President Apologizes For Plagiarizing President Obama’s Speech

FILE - In this May 29, 2015 file photo, Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari salutes his supporters during his inauguration in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has apologized for plagiarizing Presid... FILE - In this May 29, 2015 file photo, Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari salutes his supporters during his inauguration in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has apologized for plagiarizing President Barack Obama's 2008 victory speech and says he will punish those responsible. Adeola Akinremi in her Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 column for ThisDay newspaper denounced "the moral problem of plagiarism on a day Mr. President launched a campaign to demand honesty and integrity." (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File) MORE LESS
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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has apologized for plagiarizing President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech and says he will punish those responsible.

Adeola Akinremi in her Friday column for ThisDay newspaper denounced “the moral problem of plagiarism on a day Mr. President launched a campaign to demand honesty and integrity.”

Several sentences were almost identical to Obama’s in a speech Buhari made Sept. 8 launching his campaign “Change Begins With Me.”

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.”

Obama said, “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.”

Obama and Buhari meet next week at the U.N.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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