Newly sworn in Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari inauguration speech which was widely broadcast on Friday, May 29, 2015 is turning out to become a source of national embarrassment.
“I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”, a phrase from Buhari’s speech which ended up being the headline quote the day after on many national dailies and online news media turns out was allegedly lifted from the lyrics of a 1960s song by rock group, War, in a song titled Out of Nowhere.
The song is off an album called Black Man’s Burdon.
Listen to the song especially at 1.06 where the phrase is used :
According to Wikipedia, the band, War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk band from Long Beach, California, known for the hit songs “Low Rider”, “Spill the Wine”, “Summer”, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”, “The Cisco Kid”, and “The World Is a Ghetto”.
Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae. The band also transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up.
Although War’s lyrics are often socio-political in nature, their music usually had a laid-back, California funk vibe.
A few who noticed the similarities between the song and the speech were of the opinion that those in charge of drafting President Buhari’s speeches must be warned to be extra careful when writing for him so that, according to them, he not be accused of plagiarism or worse, sued for copyright infringement.
.You may view the entire lyrics of the song here.
