Point the Finger
THE PUNCH of April 7 welcomes us today: “Sheriff, Wike point fingers at each other” Fixed/standard/stock expression: point the finger “Amongst (Among) them, a new set of male and female actors are springing up and gradually taking over the scene” ‘Amidst’, ‘amongst’ and ‘whilst’ belong to the old order! “Besides her personality—Beverly—since her arrival in Nollywood few (a few) years ago, has been cast in lead roles; some cheeky, others sassy.”
“Jibrin apologises (apologizes, preferably) to Buhari for demanding for his resignation” Delete the second ‘for’ because of its redundancy.
“This truth no doubt was expressed in recognition of the role of the press in any society, especially one striving towards (for/ after) the attainment of democracy.”
“And as the UN was packing its bags and baggage out of Somalia….” Standard expression: bag and baggage.
“…the whole nation hailed and applauded both parties in the protracted ASUU crisis for reaching an agreeable truce.” Gentlemen of the Press, what is the meaning of ‘agreeable truce’? Students used to make newspapers reference materials for English language studies. I doubt if that happens these days, with oddities like ‘agreeable truce’.
“Cake is fattening thereby loosing its attraction to….” Correct spelling can’t lose attraction.
“I and the other Nigerians who had come to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia…”) Grammatical discipline demands that you put self last: The other Nigerians and I….
“Kogi workers asked to sign attendant register” ‘Attendance register’, please.
“…and the partitioning of the country by the clan chiefs and warlords continue.” The partitioning (not the chiefs and warlords) continues.
“Another recipient of the award was one of the directors of RayPower, a private electronic media….” If a non-journalist does not know the differences between ‘media’ and ‘medium’, I could excuse the fellow, but a (supposed) colleague of mine writing ‘a media’ amounts to crass illiteracy.
“They have in most cases remained willing collaborators in the de-politicization of the political system by acquiescing to virtually all the issues….” I cannot acquiesce in the ruination of modern English by some traditionalists.
“It was a most unhurried journey accomplished well over six hours, from 9 a.m. in the morning till about 2.00 p.m. in the afternoon.” One of these days, somebody will scribble ‘I saw the picture with my naked eyes’! Dear reader, you do not need ‘in the morning or afternoon’ after the abbreviation ‘a.m.’ or ‘p.m.’ ‘A.m.’ means ante meridiem (before noon). Similarly, p.m. refers to post meridiem (afternoon).
“The effectiveness of these provisions are hampered by ignorance and poverty.” This smacks of language poverty. Ignorance should not be extended to grammatical concord: “The effectiveness…. Is’.
“Party commends Adeboye over (for/on) position on controversial audio CD”
“Obituary Announcement” There is no need for ‘announcement’ in the extract.
“The condolence register for late (the late)… at her resident (residence) in Lagos”
“Edo Assembly Speaker, leader arrested over (for) attack on colleague”
“Ikpeba wants more critical attention on (to) Eagles’ activities”
“Dangote projects Africa’s potentials (potential/potentialities) with ‘Marketplace Africa’ on CNN”
“…his residence in (on) Victoria island by Standard Chartered Bank is illegal.”
“Firm chief, EFCC bicker over alleged N120m bribery (bribe)”
“Renewed clampdown against (on) rice smuggling”
“…this award appropriately reflects your tireless contributions and selfless service to the upliftment (uplift) of….”
“A giant whose strides creates (sic) paths for others to forge ahead”
“I join all well meaning (well-meaning) Nigerians to specially congratulate you for (on/upon) this well deserved (well-deserved) honour….”
“He deserves national honour, says (sic) Nigerians” “Like (As) my friend says….” “Celebrating the girl-child amidst (amid) many challenges”
“NASI flags off (inaugurates) clusterinvestment concept for agro processors” Wrong: “forthnight”, right: fortnight. “It costs between 300 to 1,000 dollars to eliminate each time.…” Between 300 and 1,000 or from 300 to 1,000….no combination
“The only time I was opportuned (opportune or had an opportunity) to watch the low-keyed event….”
“In this vein, there must be a body regulating employments in these bodies…” ‘Body regulating bodies’ is shallow. ‘Employment’ does not admit any inflection.
“But since then, the existence of the country has received series of threats of disintegration.” This way: a series of. There should be no delusion about the article preceding ‘series’ (a).
“Anambra police revokes gun dealer’s (sic) licenses” Let us rewrite: Anambra police revoke gun dealers’ licences.
“Going by precedence, it means that in about 10 days from today, the minister will be obliged to tell once again how the government performed in the first quarter.” Going by precedent…not precedence (in this instance)….
“He had probably never seen a balance sheet…talkless of balancing budget.” Balance the sentence by replacing ‘talk less’ with ‘not to talk of’ or let alone (‘talk less’, as a phrasal verb, is a good grammar).
“It is common knowledge that there is economic crisis in the country resulting to low capacity….” Correct forms: ‘an economic crisis’ or ‘economic crises’ and of course, ‘result in’ (not ‘to’).
“As earlier mentioned in this piece, lack of