There is outrage in some sections of the social media after Kenyan President William Ruto drew parallels between his country’s spoken English and Nigeria’s.
Addressing Kenyans resident in Italy on Monday, Ruto said his country’s spoken English is of a higher grade.
“Kenyans, you know our education is good, our English is good. We speak some of the best English in the world… that is true,” he said.
“If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don’t know what they are saying — you need a translator even when they’re speaking English.”
As former British colonies, Kenya and Nigeria share English as lingua franca. However, each country has distinct spoken varieties with different phonetic structures.
An accent is derived from the pronunciation differences or patterns associated with a particular dialect of a language.
Nigeria has over 500 languages which shape the cadence and intonation of the English Language across the country, while Kenya’s Bantu, Nilotic and Cushitic mix give rise to its own accents.
Cambridge University has found that there is no such thing as the “best” English accent. What is important is effective communication.
“Ruto is mocking the English of the country with a Nobel Prize for literature winner.The Nation of Achebe and Chimamanda,” Shehu Sani, former senator, said on X, referring to Wole Soyinka — the country’s Nobel Prize winner — along with acclaimed authors Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
“One moment Kenya’s President is complaining about Nigerian men marrying Kenyan ladies, another moment he is saying we need a ‘translata’,” another X user said.
Earlier this month, Tinubu faced a backlash from Kenyans online after stating that Nigerians were “better off than those in Kenya and other African countries” despite rising fuel prices at home.
Ruto did not directly reply to the statement but some online interpretations suggest his remarks may be in response to Tinubu’s comments.
Others, however, waved the Kenyan leader’s comments off as friendly needling.
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