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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER, of July 18 welcomes us today with this headline minor fault: “Gombe partners NGOs to tackle sexual, gender based (gender-based) violence”
“…as he celebrates his 50th Golden Anniversary.” Get it right: as he celebrates his golden jubilee—‘50th’ and ‘anniversary’ are otiose.
“…it has been an awesome 50 years and we are honoured to be able to call you our friend and brother.” This way: it has been awesome 50 years….
“…in their various constituencies to synthesise (synthesize, preferably) grass root (sic) opinions on this all important (all-important) project.” Not my view: grassroots opinions….
“In many respect (respects) it is out of tune with modern reality….”
“Nigeria has never degenerated to (into) this level, security wise.”
“That is why the state governments need to be given the impetus to pool their wisdom and resources together….” Delete the last word in the extract.
“…the states and local governments sufficiently financially empowered to take care of its (their) responsibilities.” There should be a conjunction between ‘sufficiently’ and ‘financially’.
The next two lexical frauds are from the Editorial of one of the newspapers under review today: “The minister exposed the shock find during an official visit to PHCN’s facilities in (on) the premises of the….”
“…contributed to PHCN’s woeful (abysmal) failure to provide regular electricity supply to the nation”
Still on the recurring pool of grammatical disasters: “The minister had, on Tuesday, drew (drawn) the ire of workers by arguing that….”
“…the federal government must embark on some cost saving (cost-saving) measures….”
“His arguments on the introduction of N5,000 notes was (were)….”
“FG to sanction DISCOs over over-billing of customers” A rewrite: “FG to sanction DISCOs for overbilling customers”
“Teachers employed by the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) to complement….” Education Today: Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
“CANNU donates to flood relief (flood-relief) fund”
“Eduwatch gathers students, scholars together” Delete the last word in the excerpt.
“Geepee proudly introduces world class (world-class) multilayer (multi-layer) composite panels…no painting, no maintainence” Bloated pride: maintenance!
THE GUARDIAN Opinion Page of May 26 circulated two improprieties: “With preparations in top gear, and barring any last minute (last-minute) hitches….”
“The final death nail (sic) came with the present political dispensation that began in 2000 that paid lip-service to governance.” Get it right: death knell or just knell. There is nothing like ‘final death nail’!
“If the Abia PDP stalwarts have forgotten, we will gladly remind them that candidates who stand for elections under (on) the platform (platforms) of political parties….”
“Edo gears up for governorship poll amidst (amid) fears of violence”
“Records show that their actions and inactions, in the past, have (had) contributed in (to)….”
“Non-partisan intelligence driven mechanism panacea to Boko Haram” A rewrite: “Non-partisan, intelligence-driven mechanism, panacea to Boko Haram
“…we urge other organizations to do same.” (Voice of the Nation Editorial, July 15) Scholarship: to do the same
“IPOB leader, Kanu, back pedals” Don’t put asunder what etymology has joined (not “joined together”): backpedals
“Police deploys (deploy) 19,000 officers for games”
“Let it be a time to re-examine our consciences and tell ourselves (one another) the truth.”
“Between 180,000 to 200,000 barrels of crude oil….” The worsening crude oil theft: Between…and; not ‘to.’
“How skill acquisition, entrepreneurship impacts (impact on/upon) national development”
“Poor budget implementation: A drawback on (of/to) national development”
“Notice of court ordered meeting of FCMB PLC. (This full stop is useless here)” And this: court-ordered meeting….
Still on THE GUARDIAN: “Non DStv (Non-DStv) subscribers get 3 months (months’) free subscription with every devices (device) purchased.” Which agency wrote this poor advertisement copy? I hereby surcharge it!
“In our pursuit of better ways to make our renown (renowned) products available to more Nigerians….” ‘Renown’ is a noun—it is its adjectival form that is required here.
“Jesus is calling you to return back to Him!” Delete ‘back’ because of its redundancy here.
“…what has happened to all the women arrested over such hineous (sic) crimes.” Get it right: ‘arrest’ takes ‘for’; never ‘over’. The same thing applies to ‘charge with’; not ‘for’ or ‘over’ as commonly used in the print media. And this: heinous
“Contributions made were for needy.” No blasphemy: the needy.
“This is me diligently serving my fatherland at Ogun State 32 years a go (sic).” Get it right: in Ogun State
“I am surprised that organizations that want to be taken serious (seriously) said they are (were) surprised….”
“If you have 3 (three) kids (children) or more and you still survive under our present economy (economic) conditions….” ‘Kid’ is informal for ‘child’—do you know that ‘kid’ also refers to a young goat? So, be wise in your choice of words!
“He said people are (were) worried as hell….”
“President Muhammadu Buhari sends warm greetings and commendation to a Nigerian doctorate (sic) student in University of….” Get it right: doctoral student. ‘Doctoral’ (adj.) (only before noun) done as part of work for the university degree of doctor. ‘Doctorate’ (noun) a university degree of the highest level Credit: Longman Dictionary…
“Congratulations Max for (on/upon) this futuristic initiative.”
“Having loss (lost) Alhaji…who was still in his fifties barely a week now….” May God console you.
“EFCC, NDDC: Foul stench (sic) oozing every quarters….” A rewrite: Stench oozing from every quarter or all quarters
“…especially with regards to….” Either with regard to or as regards
“This is the first of it’s (its) kind…People must invest their money on (in) laudable and progressive ventures….”
“Onochie’s brilliance and leadership qualities has (why?) set him apart as a….”
“May the Almighty God continue to extend his (sic) grace, mercy and love upon (to) your entire family.”
