Kenyan President, William Ruto, has clarified his earlier comments on Nigerian-accented English, stating that Nigerians speak “excellent English” and that his remarks were taken out of context.
Ruto made the clarification while speaking at a forum on responsible mining and sustainable investment in Kenya, which was attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
During his address, the Kenyan leader sent a message to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerians, describing them as his “in-laws” while addressing the earlier controversy.
“Please pass my regards, Minister, to President Tinubu, my friend, and to the great people of Nigeria, who are my in-laws, and do so in good English. And, you know, I was captured, I was speaking to my fellow citizens somewhere, and somebody, it was supposed to be a private conversation, but somebody decided that it should be public. But they also misrepresented the facts.
“The facts are that I was talking about how we in Africa speak very good English, all of us. In fact, in some countries like Nigeria, if you don’t speak excellent English, like the one we speak in Kenya, you may need a translator, you know, for you to understand the excellent English of Nigeria. So that was the comparison, but somebody decided to take it out of context.
“But I think it is as well that we can have this conversation. And my in-laws, I hope there will be no consequences for whatever was done.”
Ruto’s comments follow backlash over an earlier remark he made while addressing Kenyans in Italy, where he suggested that Nigerian-accented English was difficult to understand and might require translation.
“Our education is good. Our English is good. We speak some of the best English in the world. If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don’t know what they are saying. You need a translator even when they are speaking English,” he said.
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“We have some of the best human capital anywhere in the world. We just need to sharpen it with more training,” Ruto added
The earlier statement drew reactions amid recent comments by Tinubu, who said Nigerians were better off than citizens of some African countries, including Kenya, despite economic challenges.
“Yes, I hear you from various angles of the economy. Fuel prices are biting hard, but look around, let’s thank God together that you are better off. Listen to what people in Kenya and other African countries are going through,” Tinubu said during a project inauguration in Bayelsa State.
The comparison also sparked criticism from former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who questioned the use of rhetorical comparisons in assessing national progress.
“Na statistics we go shop?”
“Yet statistics remain indispensable – they are the language through which nations understand their condition and chart progress.”
“No country can develop in isolation from measurable realities or without comparing itself with peers.”
“What is objectionable is not comparison itself, but comparison stripped of credible, verifiable data mere tax collector comparisons that soothe rather than solve.”