Summonses, not ‘Summons’

EXPRESSION BY Ebere Wabara

YOU are welcome to this week’s features. “Flooding: A disaster fortold” Get it right: foretold

“At the last count, 31 states across the federation and (the: vital) Federal Capital Territory have (had) taken a dangerous hit with over 500 dead….”

“…Nwasinobi said the objectives of the workshop include (included) the review of the eNaira implementation journey….”

“Somewhat subtly, what used to be a household name in the hey days (sic) (heyday) of print journalism in Nigeria….”

The suspension of ASUU strike: “Earlier, the government has (had) made some promises to address the demands of the university teachers.”

“Floods: Expert raises alarm (the alarm) over looming food scarcity” 

“Don’t abandon PDP candidate, your son in-law” This way: son-in-law

“…said the abduction of children whether at home, at school or anywhere is (was) ‘reprehensible’….”

Wrong: World class film complex

Right: World-class film complex

“…said the federal government cannot (could not) go against the….”

“…Otedola always remind (reminds) young entrepreneurs that….”

Business: “OPS decries incessant summons (summonses) by National Assembly” Singular: summons; plural: summonses

“Contempt: Court orders remand of EFCC chairman in prison” Crime: Yank away ‘in prison’ in the interest of healthy grammar.

“Despite Nigeria’s huge agricultural potentials (potential or potentialities) which includes (include)….”

Daily Independent of November 2 continues the race for lexical sanity this week with a celebration of lapses: “No doubt we have degenerated to (into) moral abyss where money has become our idol.”

“He said Nigerians have (had) intermingled over a long period and….” 

“…should be reverted back to their original intended purpose.” How to make Nigerian varsities work: delete ‘back’! This same law also applies to ‘reverse back’. 

“EKSU VC alerts on (to) imminent famine”

“NBS introduces gender based (gender-based) issues in statistical data production”

“To enable (ensure) that (that the) cashless economy initiative in the country works….”

“The Nigerian (Nigeria) Police and its (their) image”

“Nigeria failed woefully (abysmally) in the London 2012 Olympic Games….”

The Ogba publication under review rounds off the howlers: “…oil cabal in a country where the majority lives (live) on less than one dollar a day.”  

Vanguard of November 2 disseminated a few inaccuracies: “Imo contractors protest non-payment of (for) jobs done”

“Reckless driving: Court orders bank to cough out N3.3m” News: cough up—not cough out!

“Enjoy free 6 months (months’) internet service”

THE GUARDIAN of November 2 circulated copious faults: “Sources said it will (would) not be the first time the leaders are (were) meeting on the issue….”

Its Metro Section also contributed to the faux pas: “…his defence counsel spent close to two hours making last minute (last-minute) submissions to the judge.”

“Institute vow (vows) to tackle quackery”

THISDAY of November 5 published a catalogue of infractions: “Buhari launches website for flood relief (flood-relief) efforts”

“Group sues FG for not swearing-in (swearing in)…”

“Oil producing (Oil-producing) communities want Section 162 amended”

“The crisis in Jos is rooted on (in) this, other states of the federation also have their own tale of woes….” Negative signal from the temple of justice: tale of woe—not woes.

“…the Chief Justice of the Federation….” Existential humanism: Chief Justice of Nigeria (not Federation)

“…it is an affront on (to) the sanctity of marriage.”

“A petition of this nature should have been thrown away on ground (grounds) of frivolity.”

“12 (Twelve) months down the lane, the forensic pathologist cast (casts) his mind back and says the university is on the path to reclaim its lost glories.”

“Wike advocates distance learning (distance-learning) education”

“3,327 corps members deployed to (in) Lagos”

“Burkina Faso sets (set) to resolve varsity crisis”

“Global recession: Nigeria’s vessel traffic records six year (six-year) low”

Finally from THISDAY: “Power was restored in (to) Santiago three weeks after Sandy”

”Saraki, patriach of Kwara politics, died of cancer at 79” Cover: patriarch

“In Togo, Nigerian masquerades (masqueraders, preferably) thrill audience as late Igbo leader goes home in style”

“Forms of sin and the consequencies (sic)” This is the consequence of either loose thinking or sheer carelessness!

“Man electrocuted under (by) high tension wire” The surest thing that can electrocute a man is a high-tension (note the hyphen) wire. Other high-capacity appliances, of course, do. Any other thing less (low-tension wire) should be aggravated, third degree or mere shock. So, a rewrite: Wire electrocutes man (preferably)/Man electrocuted by wire (passive!)—it must have been a high-tension wire to achieve that fatality! Most other newspapers lousily and thoughtlessly had a similar or exactly the same headline which clearly confirms that it came from the wire service (NAN)! Flat wires do not electrocute. Any dissenting view?

The next blunder is from THE GUARDIAN of November 4: “We begin to wonder the kind of precedence (precedent) the CJN is trying to set because….” 

“Cleric’s rape of under-aged and abortion mess” This way: underage girl (adjective and only before noun—never an independent word or what they call stand-alone in computing).

Silverbird Dream Network 7 a.m. News Scroll of November 4 terrorised viewers: “Armed robbery: Police parades (parade) suspects in Lagos, recovers (sic) arms and ammunitions” The last word in the extract is uncountable.

THE GUARDIAN of November 3, especially its Editorial, played school-boy lotteries with the English language: “Termination of calls were (was) becoming increasingly difficult from one network to another….”

“Ownership of these vessels are (is) ascribed to members of the political class….”

“Take advantage of this money making (money-making) opportunity today!” (Full-page advertisement by First Bank PLC)

Lastly from THE GUARDIAN: “Access Bank launches ‘back to school’ campaign” Financial literacy: back-to-school campaign

Yet another goof that bordered largely on slovenliness: “Constitution Review: N1m allowance tear (tears) Reps apart”

”There should be many enough so that the rich do not highjack (hijack) the programme.” By the way, what is the function of ‘many’ here?