Kenya’s President Mocked Nigerians’ English, Saying They “Need A Translator,” Sparking Huge Backlash
“If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you need a translator even when they are speaking English."
Kenya's President William Ruto has sparked fierce backlash across Africa after he mocked Nigerians speaking English, saying they “need a translator."
Speaking at a Kenyans diaspora event in Italy on Monday, April 20, Ruto was boasting about Kenya’s education, but then started to mockingly draw comparisons with Nigerians speaking English.
"Our education is good. Our English is good. We speak some of the best English in the world,” he said, adding, “If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you need a translator even when they are speaking English."
Ruto’s remarks sparked widespread backlash online, especially from Nigerians and Africans, who said it is dismissive and needlessly divisive.
"English is a colonial language, not a measure of intelligence, capability, or national progress," Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono said.
Other people online urged Ruto to focus on Kenya's own problems, including unemployment and rising living costs, rather than taking shots at a neighboring country.
Some Kenyans defended Ruto, saying the comment was meant as banter and taken out of context.
But others questioned the whole premise of the debate.
"Why should Africans be competing over who speaks the colonial masters' language very well?" one person wrote on X.
Nigeria has more English speakers than any other country in Africa and it has evolved as "Nigerian English," a distinct and widely recognised variety shaped by the country's history, cultures and everyday usage, according to BBC.
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Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
