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Days after Nigerian President Bola Tinubu stated that Nigerians were “better off than those in Kenya and other African countries”, despite rising fuel prices at home, Kenyan President William Ruto has said that Nigerian-accented English is incomprehensible and requires a translator.
Addressing Kenyans living in Italy on Monday, Ruto said, “If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don’t know what they are saying – you need a translator,” while stating that Kenyans spoke “some of the best English in the world.”
“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, drawing laughter from the audience.
President William Ruto of Kenya says their educational system is good and that they are one of the countries that speak good English while he compares Kenyans speak better English than Nigerians pic.twitter.com/bqAvpe75Aq
— Oyindamola🙄 (@dammiedammie35) April 24, 2026
Ruto’s comment came only days after Tinubu said Nigerians were doing better than people in Kenya and other African countries. That statement had also upset many Kenyans online.
Now, after Ruto’s latest comment, many Nigerians and other Africans have taken to social media to express their anger. They say the Kenyan leader was making fun of another African country.
Some people also said Ruto should focus on problems at home, like the high cost of living and lack of jobs, instead of making jokes about how Nigerians speak.
A well-known Zimbabwean journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, wrote online: “English is a colonial language, not a measure of intelligence, capability, or national progress.”
Former Nigerian senator Shehu Sani posted on X, saying that Ruto is mocking the country’s English with a Nobel Prize-winning writer.
Ruto is mocking the English of the Country with a Nobel Prize for literature winner.The Nation of Achebe and Chimamanda.
— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) April 23, 2026
Both Kenya and Nigeria, as former British colonies, share English as an official language, but each country has developed distinct spoken varieties influenced by indigenous languages. Nigeria has more than 500 languages, while Kenya’s linguistic mix includes Bantu, Nilotic and Cushitic languages.
