By Donu Kogbara
On September 8, 2016, at the launch of his “Change Begins With Me” initiative – a new public enlightenment campaign – President Buhari made a speech. unknown to Mr President, entire paragraphs in this important speech had been lifted by one of his aides from President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech.

Worse still, the hitherto un-named Villa speech-writer, who lazily, dishonestly and shamelessly stole Obama’s words and put them in Buhari’s mouth, inflicted this excruciating indignity on his or her Boss – and on Nigeria – just before Mr President was due to fly to America to meet Obama and other Heads of State at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

Imagine arriving at a global forum with that kind of toe-curling embarrassment tailing you! I don’t know what I’d have said to my peers if I’d been in Buhari’s shoes.

Did Obama and Buhari’s counterparts from other countries maintain a diplomatic silence about the plagiarism? Or did they raise the issue to clear the air and then console Buhari by telling him not to worry about a faux pas that was obviously not his fault and could happen to anyone?…or even crack jokes about useless aides? Who knows? The question I keep asking myself is this: How reckless can anyone be?!

Did the speechwriter really think that he or she could get away with such

President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari speaks at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum at the Plaza Hotel, September 21, 2016 in New York City. The forum is focused on trade and investment opportunities on the African continent for African heads of government and American business leaders.

high-profile plagiarism? Even though the two speeches were eight years apart, Obama is a historical icon and there are people who specialize in cataloguing every single thing he has ever said and know all of his speeches off by heart. Echoing his comments without crediting them to him is therefore a super-risky strategy!

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, has told us that the individual concerned will be disciplined.

I hope that he or she is sacked

On September 8, 2016, at the launch of his “Change Begins With Me” initiative – a new public enlightenment campaign – President Buhari made a speech. unknown to Mr President, entire paragraphs in this important speech had been lifted by one of his aides from President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech.

Worse still, the hitherto un-named Villa speech-writer, who lazily, dishonestly and shamelessly stole Obama’s words and put them in Buhari’s mouth, inflicted this excruciating indignity on his or her Boss – and on Nigeria – just before Mr President was due to fly to America to meet Obama and other Heads of State at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

Imagine arriving at a global forum with that kind of toe-curling embarrassment tailing you! I don’t know what I’d have said to my peers if I’d been in Buhari’s shoes.

Did Obama and Buhari’s counterparts from other countries maintain a diplomatic silence about the plagiarism? Or did they raise the issue to clear the air and then console Buhari by telling him not to worry about a faux pas that was obviously not his fault and could happen to anyone?…or even crack jokes about useless aides? Who knows? The question I keep asking myself is this: How reckless can anyone be?!

Did the speechwriter really think that he or she could get away with such

high-profile plagiarism? Even though the two speeches were eight years apart, Obama is a historical icon and there are people who specialize in cataloguing every single thing he has ever said and know all of his speeches off by heart. Echoing his comments without crediting them to him is therefore a super-risky strategy!

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, has told us that the individual concerned will be disciplined.

I hope that he or she is sacked.

Change begins with you and me and every Nigerian

Mallam Garba Shehu has urged Nigerians to look beyond the speech-writer’s error and focus on the message at the centre of the President’s campaign, being that all Nigerians must change their attitudes by shunning corruption and other vices.

More exhortations:

“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…We cannot have a thriving army of rent seekers and vested interests.”

Frankly, I have always tried to do the right thing and hang onto my integrity. And I and many other decent Nigerians are sick and tired of being lectured by moralising politicians who are, in most instances, far dodgier than we will ever be!   But let’s give Mallam Shehu and Mr President the benefit of any doubts, assume that they are sincere and do our best to behave better and make Nigeria better.

Sad truths

The former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Dahiru Musdapher, has expressed the view – at a function in Abeokuta – that the 2015 presidential election further divided the nation and was characterised by ethnic, regional and religious tensions.

Speaking at an event organised to mark the 75th birthday of the father of the former Speaker of House of Representatives, Chief Alani Bankole, Musdapher said:

“It is rather worrisome that over 100 years since the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914, Nigerians seemed as divided as ever.”

“I am scared and deeply worried,” he said, adding that “the situation is grave”…and that “the union remains as an un-negotiated union in the minds of many Nigerians.”

Musdapher lamented the favouritism, nepotism and tribalism that have prevented a productive merit-driven system from taking root…and declared that he has had cause to wonder whether Nigeria is an arranged marriage that only really worked while the matchmaker, colonial Britain, was still around and in control.

I couldn’t agree more with the Honourable Justice. This country is profoundly dysfunctional in so many ways and has yet to become a truly viable and well-blended national entity. And things seem to be deteriorating rather than improving.

Since the British imperialists who forced us into this largely failed marriage of convenience are no longer around to clean up the unholy mess they created, we desperately need a visionary Leader who can fix things and help us avoid divorce.

And if no such leader emerges in the near future –that is: if Buhari cannot handle this challenge – let us please seriously consider the possibility of going our separate ways.  

Wake up MTN!

LAST week, I mentioned a reader whose “Do Not Disturb” requests to MTN had been totally ignored. MTN has assured its subscribers that if they send a “STOP” message to 2442, they will cease to receive unwanted texts and calls. But this reader was still being bombarded, despite having sent several “STOP” messages.

Others have since contacted me to say that they’re having the same problem. And I feel obliged to remind MTN – again – to get its act together and quit harassing people who (like me) are not interested in unsolicited communications.

Whether the above problem is caused by an IT glitch or human error or corporate arrogance or whatever, it needs to be resolved at the earliest opportunity.

This “do not disturb” irritation is not the only hassle we MTN subscribers have to contend with. Even worse is the never-ending frustration of “network problems”.

I recently had to call a fellow MTN subscriber back no less than eight times in the space of 10 minutes, in order to complete our conversation because our phones kept cutting off. Often, the signal is so poor – even in major urban areas – that voices sound distorted and one cannot hear what the other person is saying.

Is it too much to ask that a highly successful company that makes so much money in Nigeria operates more efficiently and treats its customers more respectfully?