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You are welcome to English 101 class: “Is rotation about the Yorubas and Hausas/Fulanis. (?)” Fixed entry: the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba
“He who looses (loses) money, (otiose comma) looses (sic) much.”
“I most sincerely appreciate the two medical personnel (officials) in….”
“The money that had been budgeted to (for) Niger Delta since 1999 is enough to build two modern nations.”
“Hangar is a place where aircraft are housed….” A rewrite: A hangar is a place where aircraft are kept—aircraft are not housed.
“PMB reads riot act (the riot act) to ministers….”
“Someone is advocating for banning pregnancy….” Delete ‘for’ to foreclose lexical slavery!
“…Who you have so profusely reverence (revered) in this piece….”
“55 test positive of (for) COVID-19 in a Ghana high school after partial resumption.”
“Akpabio and Nunieh has (have) been embroiled in feisty….”
“It’s high time SanwoOlu (sic) returns (returned) Okada (motorbikes) and tricycles back to the roads.” Delete ‘back’, which is encapsulated in ‘return’. And this: Gov. Sanwo-Olu (show respect), please
“…may his soul finds (find) rest in the Lord’s bossom (bosom).”
“…Jonathan who has just being (been) appointed as (sic) ECOWAS’ Special Envoy to Mali….”
“For once in recent time (times), I can say….”
“Someone that tested ‘positive’ to (for) corruption should be isolated!”
“Chief Arthur Eze believes Igbo are not good enough to lead Nigeria because they don’t love each other (one another)…and all this don’t (all these don’t) bother him. Only the contracts he gets is what matters (are what matter)!”
“…NAF, and indeed the entire Nation (unnecessary capitalization), was (were) thrown into mourning as a result of….”
“…at the helm of affairs of INEC during state elections….” This way: at the helm of INEC
“That is an emergency expenditure that couldn’t have await (awaited) legislative process (processes).”
A press release dated July 29, 2020, from Rivers State Internal Revenue Service circulated a bouquet of flaws: “The Covid-19 pandemic and the related lockdowns has (have) resulted in major disruption (disruptions or a major disruption) in (of) economic activities….”
Wrong: medium sized enterprises; right: medium-sized enterprises
“Most of these MSMEs operates (why?)….”
“The Rivers State Government in her (sic) bid to mitigate and cushion the impact of….” Feminization of language has become outdated and no longer in sync with modern tendencies.
“…since the restriction of (on) movements on (during) lockdowns as occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic….”
Wrong: hair and barbing saloons: right: salons (for hair); and saloons for drinking or vehicular identification
Finally from RIRS: “Welders, vulcanizes (vulcanizers) and allied vocations (sub-professionals/quasi-technicians)
“Wharf rats vandalise imported vehicles at ports” A rewrite: Wharf rats vandalize vehicles. Where else would wharf rats operate other than ports? And this: virtually all the vehicles vandalized are the imported ones, usually. So delete ‘imported’
“COVID-19: Anambra names 5 high risk (high-risk) LGAs”
“Mbappe fits (fit) for Atalanta (Atlanta) clash” (Sporting Sun Front Page Headline, August 3)
“United paid an initial fee of…for the Portugal (Portuguese) star….” (Source: as above)
Let us round off with Editorial of July 20 which disseminated this faux pas: “…charge for hardware token and fee for short messages (SMS).” Get it right—SMS: Short Messaging Service
“…seek mop up (mop-up) of illegal weapons”
“…the Federal Government has also failed to provide the enabling environment to make such development (such a development) possible” (OPINION Page, August 5)
“School re-opening (reopening): Impressive turnout in Asaba”
“Operators seek Buhari’s intervention on (in) high charges at LADOL free zone”
“Rest in perfect peace” Get it right: rest in peace. ‘Peace’ is an absolute word that, usually, does not require any amplification or embellishment of any sort—except ‘graveyard peace’
“Bird (sic) of same plummage (sic)….” Fixed expression: Birds of a feather (flock together)
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the National Assembly should seize (take) the auspicious moment….”
“The fresh affront on (to) Nigeria was infuriating and unprovoked.”
“It could well have been avoided, (needless punctuation that breaks the flow of thought) had the Southern African nation acted with finesse in its constantly disturbing diplomatic relations with Nigeria if it actually has (had) a sense of history at all.” Still on the faulty comma, a subject and its predicate cannot be separated. There is sequence in collocation.
“The clamour for SIM card registration by the NCC is an unnecessary detraction (sic) and should be stopped.” No distraction, please.
“Among other factors, the poor reading habit of the citizen account (accounts) for the thieving attitude which pervades public life today.”
It will make sense if newspapers begin to civilize their processes by correcting grammatical blunders in advert copies instead of running them sheepishly: “Strenghtening Stakeholders’ Capacity to use Alternative Dispute Resolution….” You do not need a study visit to USA: strengthening, but straightening.
“…he could write in such simple term (a simple term or simple terms) that a man on the street would understand him.” (THE NATION ON SUNDAY, August 2) My comment: ‘the man in the street’ is a fixed idiomatic expression. No writer has the poetic liberty to restructure such stock entries, except in colloquial environments.
“At the scene, police detectives recovered live and expended ammunitions including explosives yet to be detonated.” Robbers on rampage in Lagos: ‘ammunition’ is uncountable. I would have preferred ‘live ammunition and pellets.’
“MTN: Police probes missing money” National news: Police probe missing money.
“Yet, the embattled boxer did not let go as he pointed accusing fingers to some….” Sport: he pointed the finger at some….
Yet another bold headline indiscretion: “PMB asked to reduce costs of government” In the interest of our democracy: cost of governance.
“A peerless gentleman, business leader, industrialist and philantropist” Always spell-check: philanthropist.
“Man nabbed in hotel with under-aged girls” Get it right: under-age girls.
