Arraign On, Not ‘Over’

Ebere Wabara

“FUEL queues return in (to) Lagos”

“EFCC arraigns Kwara bizman over (on) N170m contract scam” Please further note that ‘bizman’ is a substandard entry.

“Ogun: Adebutu, others docked over money laundering” No editor/reporter has any journalistic licence to misuse words or phrases, especially those that are fixed or stock etymologies. You put a suspect in the dock. Verbal usage of ‘dock’ does not apply here. It is mostly a maritime application. 

“…on the auspicious occasion of your 83rd birthday anniversary celebration.” Delete ‘anniversary’ for Ochudo’s sake!

“…in the context of work ethics (ethic)….”

“Happy birthday to a truly inspirational leader per (par) excellence in politics who has certainly earned a place in the history of our dear.” Dear what?

“The endemic country in the country is fast weakening our nascent democracy.” Apart from the gibberish of ‘country in the country’, our democracy is no longer ‘nascent’! 

The Special Adviser to ex-Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State on Public Communications, Onyebuchi Ememanka, made a public nuisance of himself in his scurrilous and horrendous feedback to one of my candid articles published here not too long ago: “…Ukwa Ngwa resurrects which appeared…at (on) Page 17 made a negatively interesting read (reading).” ‘Read’, in this context, is strictly informal which means it cannot be used in formal/standard writing. The same thing applies to ‘invite’ (invitation) which is becoming faddish in Nigeria!

“It was at (in) the last paragraph that I understood what the entire article was all about, namely, yet another attempt by an apologist of Mazi Alex Otti, to further seek to needlessly politicize and denigrate the history of our people.”

Finally from Ememanka: “It rather follows age long (age-long) traditions of seniority at (on) the bench.” For those who may not know, the bracketed words are the correct entries.

THE Guardian front and inside pages of May 12 followed the footsteps of Ememanka by prefacing this week’s edition with two howlers nurtured by juvenile sloppiness: “It should be recalled that stakeholders opposed AMCON’s deadline on (for) bank’s acquisition.”

“Govt test runs (sic) American building system in Kuje scheme” ‘Test run’ is a noun—not a phrasal verb! Just use ‘tests’, which is brief and concise. These Nigerian etymological creations vitiate contemporary English.

Usage note: Customs (plural)—The Customs and Excise (British: now Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs since 2005 when the department was merged with Inland Revenue). Also: US Customs Service just like Nigeria Customs Service which the current leadership has so revolutionized with a catalytic touch that you would think there had been no CG before the present one—the NCS now posts, unprecedentedly, N100bn revenue yearly! Britons apply plural verb (The Customs have seized….) while Americans use singular verb. The choice is yours! For me, to the extent that it is a government AGENCY, I will support Americans on this for once! What do you constructively think?

“It is high time (also it is about time) all the contentious issues in SWF are (were) resolved now (sic) in the interest of the economy and the country.”

“Attempt (An attempt) by the APC to elect officials has led to cracks in its rank (ranks)”

“There are intractable crisis (crises) between….”

“The demeanour of majority (a majority) of the contenders….”

“The compendium is the first single national publication that will feature all the custodian (the entire custodians) of Nigeria’s cultures….” (Full-page advertorial by Daily Trust) 

Let us move from Daily Trust to THISDAY of May 12 which circulated all manner of blunders: “Stop by the nearest Access Bank branch for our Cross Border Transfer (cross-border transfer) service.” (Full-page advertisement)

The next two faults are still from THISDAY of the above edition: “…the last thing the public needs (need) now is to rub salt in (into) their wounds.”

“Population, urbanisation (urbanization, preferably) driver (drivers) of investment into (in) Africa”

“This is a cost effective (cost-effective) way of banking.”

“A hearty cheers” (Full-page congratulatory advertorial by the Chrome Group) Why not ‘Hearty cheers?

“…on the occasion of his Birthday Anniversary (sic).” (Full-page advertorial by Mainland Oil & Gas Co. Ltd)  ‘Birthday’ and ‘anniversary’ cannot co-exist because the former implies the yearly anniversary (celebration/marking/commemoration) of an epochal event (birth/discovery/wedding/memorial et al) in the life of an individual or an organisation (organization, preferably). This faux pas keeps recurring daily! Is it that we do not read or are we just raucously careless or incorrigible? We have ‘wedding anniversary’.

“Although sports betting have (has) been around for a long time….”

Finally from the Back Page of THISDAY under focus where a guest columnist offered readers just an executive takeaway: “Now that they have attained those standards, I hope they will not let it (them) drop again.”

The PUNCH of May 12 joins the language-poverty club with the following inaccuracies: “I ran to the two of them and they would borrow (lend) the state money.”

“Glo Borrow (Lend) Me Credit” (Full-page advertisement by glo Unlimited) What is this schoolboy mix-up of ‘borrow’ and ‘lend’?

“Risk averse (Risk-averse) Nigerian banks lag behind peers—Report”

For the first time, let us welcome THISDAY Style to this stylish column. Its two editions lacked grammatical etiquette on three occasions: “…my experiences here has (have) been a big part of my music. From the onset (outset), my music has (had) always been about me being a Nigerian.”

“Put your phone on silent (silence)”

From THE NATION ON SUNDAY of June 9 comes the next boyish infraction: “Nigeria: Giant with a feet of clay” You mean nobody in the production team could detect this mistake? Get it right: ‘Nigeria: Giant with clay feet—not ‘a feet of clay’!

 “…Happy Birthday my sweetheart & congrats for (on/upon) being a Digital grandma.”

“Travel expert…said Nigeria needs (needed) a national or flag carrier with….”   

The Guardian of May 24 nurtured some misunderstandings right from its front page: “The meeting, which started at about 12.10 p. m. at (in) the Council Chambers, was attended by….” No cloudiness about timing: exactitude is the word or clear guess game (at 12.10 p. m. or about 12.10 p. m.—if unsure). In formal writing, ‘at’ and ‘about’ cannot co-function when timing.

“Taraba CAN blames acting gov over (for) killings, aide disagrees”

“Since August, I have been remitting money into (to) my husband’s account….”

“Chioma, you are not 50, you are 18 with 32 years (years’) experience”

The Guardian of June 12 was conscienceless: “With this resolution, the committee said local councils will (would) no longer be a third tier….”

Still on The Guardian which fumbled scandalously with five kindergartener mistakes: “What is absolutely incorrect is the celebration of same (the same) figures as some achievement in the face of Nigerians’ gnawing poverty.”

“…which shows that majority (a/the majority) of Nigerians still live below the poverty line….”

“…offering a competitive edge over other economies in (on) the continent….”

“…the turnover shows a reap-off (rip-off) of consumers and low quality service in return.”

“The exercise is how to maximize those potentials (potential or potentialities).”