William Ruto apologizes after mocking Nigerian spoken English

Kenyan President William Ruto has walked back his earlier remarks about Nigerian English, insisting that Nigerians actually speak “excellent English” and saying his previous comments were misunderstood and taken out of context.

He made the clarification at a forum in Kenya focused on responsible mining and sustainable investment in Africa, where Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, was also present.

During the interaction, Ruto used the opportunity to send greetings to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerians, whom he described as his in-laws, while explaining that a private conversation he had earlier was later made public and misrepresented.

He said his original point was meant as a broader comment on African English usage, arguing that the continent generally has a high standard of English, with Nigeria often standing out in that regard.

According to him, his comparison was distorted and should not have been interpreted as criticism, adding that the situation had been blown out of proportion.

He said, “Please pass my regards, 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.”