Maybe Tinubu, when with world leaders, should speak Yoruba, By Okpia Egbe

In Brazil, unfortunately, he was at his worst. He did seem to have had a written speech, but he did not use it. He chose to adlib, which is always a balablu away from disaster.

I have listened to the speech of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the G20 Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, several times.

If you have not, you really should. Perhaps, then, like me, you might feel that when he goes to these events, Tinubu’s speech must be written. And that he should read, word-for-word, the written speech that he is given, with not one word added and not one word deducted. It is the only way that he can avoid embarrassing himself, and Nigeria.

In Brazil, unfortunately, he was at his worst. He did seem to have had a written speech, but he did not use it. He chose to adlib, which is always a balablu away from disaster.

The first half of his halting, boring, incoherent, seven-and-a half minutes address went like this:

“I am from Nigeria. It is better to give you the true picture of what is going on in Africa. We have terrorism…challenges, insecurity…challenges, that is [sic] preventing farmers from even going to their farms.

“We have problem [sic] in Sudan…displacing people. We have problem [sic] of climate change, flooding, destroying crops. And we have problem [sic] of protectionism.

“We have problems. It is very important to make it clear and louder [sic] here. We have problem [sic] of out-of-school children. We have problem [sic] of funding free education, of giving our children one meal a day in a classroom to even make them pay attention to school.

“Africa has that problem, and the problem is compounded by some other conflicts around the world: the world in Ukraine and others. The war on [sic] Gaza Strip.

“That’s [sic] poverty-driven problems. What do I do to help the small-scale industry? The cost of funding is expensive. What do I do to get power to industrialize my country? The cost of funding is extremely expensive. The developed world would need to extend this promises [sic] [bulaba-balablu] must salute everyone of you, but support the continent.

“The neglect of Africa is a danger to the rest of humanity and we have to lift one another up. We have to build an inclusive economy that takes into account the population growth. In Nigeria I have over 250 million souls. The fight against hunger and poverty is not a matter of choice but a matter of priority for me. But where do I get those helps [sic]?”

First, Mr. Tinubu was supposed to be presenting Nigeria’s national statement, not the continental, and certainly not the personal. He was not at the summit to speak for Africa, and often got lost trying to go beyond his remit.

He did not know, either, that when he speaks for his country, he is expected to speak in the first-person plural: “we,” unless he is making a personal remark. To that end, a statement such as “I have 250 million souls” ought to be, humbly: “We have 250 million people” or “Nigeria has 250 million people.”

“Where do I get those helps,” in addition to being a grammatical blunder that should never appear from an official who drains the national treasury to accommodate a dozen spokespersons, dozens of political aides and hundreds of presidential hangers-on, reveals Tinubu trying to personalize his office. The presidency is an office and the “president” in front of his name is a title, not a pronoun. Unless a president is saying “I Quit,” the only time he should be using “I” is when he takes his oath of office.

Second, English is Nigeria’s lingua franca or official language. When summits such as those of the G20 are being organized, this is important because, among other things, behind the scenes there is a large administrative machinery working to ensure that speakers are understood by participants across various languages.

This involves the use of a legion of interpreters who provide real-time interpretation of an ongoing speech to recipients in different languages. An interpreter is happy to have a written statement to work with, and most prepared delegations would provide one. If not, errors are likely, particularly with a speaker whose grasp of the language being interpreted is poor; his accent dubious; and his delivery uneven.

That, exactly, was Tinubu at this summit. Having watched and listened to speakers who speak extemporaneously but flawlessly, he decided he could “ogboju” it out, but if you’re unarmed, you’re unarmed. The G20 is not a Lagos APC market, and you cannot macho what you do not have.

How did Tinubu fare? His speech lacked substance and organization, as he clearly had no grasp of the subject.

And then he lacked the fundamentals of the English language. “We have problem” is pidgin, not English. An English speaker would say “a problem.” Or, in the plural, he would say, “We have problems.”

The man told the gathered leaders and experts: “It is very important to make it clear and louder here.” For someone who said he got a university degree in Chicago—not Cairo—how do you say “clear and louder”?

The Nigeria leader had no coherence. “…problem in Sudan…displacing people,” and “problem of climate change, flooding, destroying crops,” are syntactically and grammatically awful. They put off interpreters, listeners, analysts and those specialists who draft conference reports (or handle future invitations). It is one reason why, at conferences, some people are mere attendees and are never reflected in matters of substance or contribution.

Evidently, Nigeria has (not HAVE) a problem for as long as its current president wants to speak abroad without a written text. Every diplomat knows that this is a reckless format that will see Nigeria continue to lose face and place internationally.

Now, Abuja to Rio is a flying distance of over eight hours. Even if he had never heard of the G20 and even of a fight against hunger, despite Nigeria being the poverty capital of the world that was enough time for him to be adequately briefed. He demonstrated no relevant preparation at all.

Perhaps, then, we should try to persuade the international community to permit the use of Yoruba as a conference language? But how would we even set about that, given that we have already set ourselves apart as the only modern nation-state with no ambassadors abroad?

Yes, Nigeria. We have a problem.

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