The Deputy Director who took the fall for President Buhari’s internationally acclaimed plagiarism of Obama’s speech when he launched the “Change Begins With Me” campaign has been redeployed from the State House.
Vanguard reports that a source close to the presidency reveals that the said director who is being used as a scapegoat for Buhari’s serial plagiarisms has re-assigned. “At 8 o’clock on the Monday morning following the allegations, he reported at the office of the Head of Service, and he was immediately asked to vacate his position and office at the State House pending further measures which will be guided by civil service rules and regulations,” the source disclosed.
The Presidency says it has also taken steps to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing occurrence. A new digital process has been reportedly put in place in the State House to aid the process of drafting speeches.
This includes the provision of tools that detect plagiarism, similar to those used by editors and academics around the world. Meanwhile the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu equally confirmed that the officer is no longer in the State House.
The government of President Buhari had since expressed regret over what it said was an unfortunate incident, expressing hopes that Nigeria can look beyond it to embrace the message of change. The Buhari Presidency has however failed to apologise for plagiarising Charles de Gaulle’s “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody” quote in Buhari’s May 29, 2015 inauguration speech.
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