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Buhari’s “I Belong to Everybody & I Belong to Nobody” is BBC Africa’s Top Quote of 2015
Who can forget Buhari‘s epic quote during the 2015 presidential inauguration – “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.”
Well BBC Africa concurs about how powerful that statement was. The news portal has named it Africa’s best quote of 2015.
Another of Buhari’s quotes also landed at number 2, in the list which consists of 16 quotes:
- “We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices.To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens.” – President Buhari said four months later on Nigeria’s independence day
Other quotes on the list include:
- “I’ve just concluded – since President Obama endorses the same-sex marriage, advocates homosexual people and enjoys an attractive countenance – thus if it becomes necessary, I shall travel to Washington DC, get down on my knee and ask his hand” – Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe, mocking a US Supreme Court decision in June to legalise gay marriage.
- “Dear white people in the fashion world!… Why do I have to bring my own make-up to a professional show when all the other white girls don’t have to do anything but show up. Don’t try to make me feel bad because I am blue-black – it’s 2015” – South Sudanese model Nykhor Paul, who got more than 20,000 likes on Instagram after she posted the comment in July
- “I love my work. But under our constitution, I cannot run again… I actually think I’m a pretty good president – I think if I ran I could win. But I can’t.When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife – as we’ve seen in Burundi. Nobody should be president for life” – Barack Obama
- “Relaxing your hair was a rite of passage. My hair suffered a lot with those chemicals and I cut it all off and my hair grew and I realised it wasn’t that bad after all” – Lupita Nyong’O
