SEE OUR TOPICS →
x.com/nig_newsmedia/status/2…
"If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don't know what they are saying."
That was the snide statement made by Kenyan president Ruto
@WilliamsRuto while addressing Kenyans living in Italy.
Firstly, Ruto's derogatory statement is WRONG ENGLISH because "a Nigerian" is singular while "they" is plural.
Before we proceed, let's correct Ruto's wrong English. The correct sentence should be:
1. If you listen to a Kenyan speaking, you don't know what he or she is saying.
2. If you listen to Kenyans speaking, you don't know what they are saying.
Full gist on BBC:
bbc.com/news/articles/c0ledd…
Ruto's absurd and false remark about Nigerians was made out of jealousy, according to some internet posts.
@grok and
@realgrokman, your thoughts!
Dear
#Kenyans, I'd like to add the fact that Pidgin English, which is a combination of English, slang, and local languages, is spoken in West African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, etc.
If you speak pidgin English in the presence of foreigners who don't speak it, their first impression will be that you don't speak good English.
Pidgin English is unique. In Kenya, they also have
#BrokenSwahili or
#PidginSwahili that is known as Sheng.
Just like pidgin English, Sheng is also a combination of Swahili, English, and local languages.
If somebody who speaks Swahili listens to Kenyans speaking Sheng, the person will also think that Kenyans don't speak good Swahili.
However, Ruto decided to apologize to Nigerians after getting severe negative and damning backlash online.
In his apology, he admitted that Nigerians speak EXCELLENT ENGLISH.
He said, "In fact, in some countries like Nigeria, if you do not speak excellent English like the one we speak in Kenya, you may need a translator to understand the excellent English of Nigeria. So that was the comparison. But somebody misrepresented the facts."
See Ruto's apology on BBC:
bbc.com/news/articles/cx21e9…
The question is, why did President Ruto pull off such infantile self-humiliation? I am sure this question will be answered in the comment section.
x.com/nig_newsmedia/status/2…