Marching Orders, Not ‘Order’

EXPRESSION BY Ebere Wabara

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE of May 10 leads the pack of foibles today: “…there are still some honest Nigerians with very strong moral fibre capable of resisting the temptation to be dishonest and fraudulent even when it would appear save (safe) to do so.”

Still on the above edition: “Twenty-five years is enough for wastages…backbitting….” Spell-check: backbiting.

Back to basics. There is a difference in usage between ‘condole’ and ‘console’: the former takes ‘with’ as a phrasal verb while the latter stands alone. 

Next on the line-up is THE NATION of May 10: “Motor dealer arrested over (for) death of his 15-year-old boy in Ibadan”

“…like (as) I have always said….”

“…a raging demand for the implementation of the government White Paper on the immediate past administration.” Truth in defence of freedom: ‘White Papers’ are exclusively issued by governments! It is like writing ‘obituary announcement’ when ‘obituary’ on its own covers ‘announcement’.

“Old boys assures quality education” Why the discord and who did they assure?

“One question that readily comes to mind is what does Amaechi stands (stand) to lose if….” (Source: as above)

DAILY INDEPENDENT of May 9 contributed the next three errors: “The dictates of democracy is (are) anchored on the wishes….”

“Ikpeba denies gang up against Yekini” Get it right: ‘gang-up’. Still on Yekini who scored Nigeria’s first World Cup goal: enough of the crocodile tears for Yekini who was abandoned by everyone when it mattered most!

“We all want good things and for these good things to come we must all contribute our own quote (quota)….” (THE NATION, May 9)

Again, from the preceding medium: “Internment follows thereafter.” (Full-page Announcement by Edo State Government) Spell-check: interment.    

“Murder of South East politician: IGP gets Presidential marching order” (National Accord, May 24) Get it right: marching orders.

Please note that ‘flag off’ is now generally and authoritatively accepted as a phrasal verb.

Retrospect: “Aregbesola commends Oyinlola over (for/on) mineral exploration” It is equally commendable that a former serving governor deemed it fit to appreciate his predecessor—it is rare in our convoluted country. Thumbs up for Engr. Rauf Aregbesola who passionately gave rudderless PDP sleepless nights by his inimitable leadership distinction in The State of Osun not too long ago.

“THE GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY of May 22 did not live up to its reputation as a scholarly publication: “Rotimi Jacobs, principal prosecutor to the EFCC, gives thumb (thumbs) down to….”               

“Setting standards for sustainable business practices that; (sic) unleash the talents of our employees….” (Access Bank’s Mission) A passion for excellence: the semi-colon in the excerpt is otiose and breaks the flow of an otherwise well-written statement.

“We regret to announce the untimely death of our friends, colleagues and comrades in a ghastly motor accident on Saturday, May 21, 2022 (another comma) along (on) the Afuze-Auchi road.” (Full-page obituary by…advertiser’s name withheld for potentially-fatalistic reasons!) This mishap was fatal. The media officials should have known better and not allow their governor to sign a bad copy for public consumption!

THE NATION ON SUNDAY of May 22 untypically circulated six improprieties: “US lawmakers write Buhari, demand action against sect” The legislators wrote to Buhari (not wrote Buhari)…in formal/standard environments.

“Gov. mourns lawmaker’s late wife” Truth in defence of freedom: do we mourn people who are alive? Common sense: the man mourned the lawmaker’s wife.

“According to him, he was the last journalist to interview the late Major-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi alive.” Again, I ask: is it possible to interview a dead man?

“…he has made remarkable progress towards cleaning the Aegean stable (sic) in the sector….” Business Intelligence: Augean stables.

“Nigeria, one of top 10 gas flaring nations—World Bank” (National News, May 3) National News: gas-flaring nations.

“OAU alumni honours members, launch N500m Alumni Centre” (Nigerian Tribune, May 3) Why the discrepancy (honour)?

“This strike is taking heavy tool (toll) on public….” (THE NATION, May 4) 

 “He advocates for a proper….” Delete ‘for’.

“Nigeria’s soccer house set to take the bull by the horn and change the face of the game.”  Sport Today: take the bull by the horns.

“Almost 80 per cent of police stations were either razed to the ground or ransacked.”  Obviously, when a property is razed, it crumbles to the ground.  Got the hang? This is different from a section or sections of it being burned.

“The wretched has (have) no voice.”

”…the victim is a specie (species) from among the wretched of the earth.”

“We could do nothing against such formidable odds giving (given) the worthless tools at our disposal.”

“Within few months of his administration, the crime rate in the state ostensibly reduced to the barest minimum.” What is the function of ‘ostensibly’ here?

“The congestion on our roads are (is) very unhealthy for the economic sector.”

“A further review of the performance of the major currencies of Nigeria’s trading partners also indicate (indicates) that the Euro….”

“A planned rally by students…was aborted yesterday in Lagos as heavily armed policemen took over the Yaba bus stop…” Something can only be aborted when the process had begun.  The rally never kicked off as it was still at the planning stage.

“An association comprising of Great Britain and its former colonies….” Gently take out ‘of’.

“The strappy look is now the vogue.” ‘Vogue’ connotes currency.   ‘Now’ again? 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

THIS addendum is in appreciation of recent interventions by Dr. Stanley Nduagu and Pastor N. E. Ijachi from Aba, Abia State and Otukpo, Benue State, respectively. I will address the issues raised shortly.