President William Ruto has backtracked on remarks mocking Nigerian English, saying he was misquoted and the comments taken out of context.
Ruto made the clarification on Tuesday, April 28, on the sidelines of the Kenya Mining Investment Conference Expo 2026 in Nairobi, while receiving Nigerian Minister Yusuf Tuggar, asking him to convey his regards to President Bola Tinubu and to "the great people of Nigeria, who are my in-laws."
"I was captured speaking to my fellow citizens somewhere, and somebody decided that it should be public. It was supposed to be a private conversation. But they also misrepresented the facts. The facts are that I was talking about how we in Africa speak very good English, all of us," said Ruto.
"In fact, in some countries like Nigeria, if you don't speak excellent English like the one we speak in Kenya, you may need a translator, for you to understand the excellent English of Nigeria," he added.
The original remarks were made during an address to Kenyans in Italy, where Ruto praised Kenya's education system before claiming Nigerians could be hard to understand even when speaking English.
"Our education is good. Our English is good. We speak some of the best English in the world. If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don't know what they are saying. You need a translator even when they are speaking English," he said, sparking laughter from the audience.
The comments were delivered at a diaspora gathering, recorded on video and widely circulated. The remarks drew condemnation from across the continent, with critics accusing Ruto of demeaning a fellow African country and reinforcing colonial-era attitudes toward language.
Former Nigerian Senator Shehu Sani hit back, highlighting Nigeria's global literary influence. "Ruto is mocking the English of the country with a Nobel Prize for literature winner. The Nation of Achebe and Chimamanda," he wrote on X, referencing Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and renowned authors Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Ruto expressed hope the matter would not damage bilateral ties.
"My in-laws, I hope there will be no consequences for whatever was done," he noted.
