On, Not Under, Platform
“THE doctors, under (on) the platform of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD)….” Please note that the past tense of ‘benefit’ can be spelt either way: benefited or benefitted. There was a slight mix-up in this column last week.
“Matrac Nigeria Limited, the sole authorized dealer for caterpillar products and services in Nigeria (another comma) hereby notify (notifies) the general public.” Despite the phrase ‘general public’ being in some—not all—dictionaries, I see it as a civil service cliché that should be discarded for simply ‘the public’.
“We commend the Minister for (of) Niger Delta Affairs for instituting the audit panel.” (Editorial, September 15)
“…review of the laws to reposition and restructure the NDDC for efficiency and better service delivery, amongst (among—in compliance with latest trends in morphological usage) others.” (Source: as above)
“Burial arrangement (arrangements are) are (is) as follows (follow)….” I hope the
“Security guard arrested over (for) Niger monarch’s abduction” (News around the city, September 8)
“Umada (sic) Igbo mourns (sic) departed amazons (Oriental News, September 8) A complete rewrite: Umuada (take note of the spelling) Igbo mourn amazons. Would they have mourned amazons who are alive? The headline caster must have murderous intentions!
“Abia APC flay (flays) Apugo for inciting party members against national leadership”
“Ondo Govt fixes Akure-Owo expressway amidst (amid—still on currency of application) gridlock”
“Why do you need 30 years to clean-up” No S-VD: clean up.
“…he who pays the piper dictates (calls) the tune.”
The next salvo this week comes from Vanguard of September 7: “6 suspects arrested over Suleija bombings” Towards a better life for readers: arrested for (not over).
THE NATION of September 6 bungled a fundamental point: “If Nigeria is to send more of its girls to school, it must ensure that the education sector is….” Enriching knowledge: educational sector
Still on advertisements: “Cheers! As an achiever par excellency turns 40” This way: par excellence.
“Salami’s ouster backed by precedence (precedent)” (THE GUARDIAN, September 6)
THISDAY of September 5 issued this infraction: “Wikileaks: IBB played double standards on Atiku” This is journalistic infantilism that borders on stunted professionalism. Yellow Card: double standard.
“…action of holding government establishments responsible for whatever actions it (they) takes (take).” What’s going on? This grammatical lawlessness was taken from THE PUNCH of September 5.
“Boko Haram’s grouse with the UN is misplaced.” (National News, September 5) Heart beat: grouse about the UN.
“UN blast: A panorama of event” (THISDAY, September 3) Cover story: A panorama of events
“Poverty of ideas haunt our leaders” (SATURDAY Vanguard, September 4) If weekend newspapers were role models: Poverty of ideas haunts our leaders (and, if I may add, sub-editors or whatever name they bear these days!)
“…as investment on (in) water projects yield dividends” (Nigerian Tribune, September 3) Subject-verb disagreement (S-VD) is becoming a major structural challenge to most colleagues of mine: investment yields dividends.
Let us welcome THE MOMENT to this column. Its September 3 edition introduced us to juvenile errors: “Jos crisis: ACF urges warring communities to sheath sword” Spell-check: sheathe.
“…the Obasanjo administration spent a whooping (whopping) 16 billion US dollars on power projects between 1999 and 2007 without anything to show for it….”
“In (On) the premises were some chairs, burglary proofs….” Get it right: burglar alarms. Tolerably, too: burglar proofs, (Saturday Tribune, September 3) We must persist as long as these solecisms recur despite their almost weekly repetitiveness in this column: either condole with or console.
“Legends of yesteryears” (DAILY TRUST, September 4) Basic knowledge: yesteryear (uncountable)
“How many of our employers (employees) are paid their monthly salaries in advance, talk less of (let alone) earning a year’s salary in advance.” (National Politics, September 2)
“Customs seizes N50m contrabands, 4 luxurious vehicles” (THISDAY BUSINESSWORLD, September 2) This way: ‘contraband’ is non-count and, of course, luxury vehicles.
Still on THISDAY: “Ijeshaland roles out the red carpet for Obada” City Strings: rolls.
The next eight blunders are from DAILY INDEPENDENT of September 2: “Returning Sapele to glory days of growth (1)” Niger Delta: glorious days
“This time around (round preferably because the other variant is a piece of
Americanism!)….”
“When Ngozi Iweala (sic) was the Minister of Finance during Obasanjo regime (the Obasanjo regime or Obasanjo’s regime), lots of progress was (were) made.”
From the editorial of ‘a voice of your own’: “The social consequences of mass youth unemployment is (are) best imagined.”
“The EFCC, rather than do the job it was established to do (another comma) have (has)….”
DAILY CHAMPION Online of September 2 circulated multifarious gaffes that bordered on sheer carelessness and ignorance: “Experts converge in (on) Abuja over terrorism, economic crime”
“NAFDAC mops-up fake drugs worth N300,000” Business & Economy: mops up.
“We have not had any crash in this country that involves (involved) any student of this college.”
“Nigeria advocates for locally produced vaccines” No news: delete ‘for’.
“Ibadan flood: Farmers dispatch SOS to FG, Oyo govts” Get it right: Federal, Oyo govts or FG, Oyo govt—which is clumsy!
“Retrenchment: Electricity workers read riot acts to Power Ministry” Stock expression: read the Riot Act (not acts)
“This must be a time for introspection, for deep soul searching as a way of paying respect to those who have lost their lives.” (DAILY INDEPENDENT, September 1) A season of editorial bungling over the recent torridity in Ibadan: we pay respects, not respect, in greeting.
“The players were now absorbed in the game when somebody ran into the yard, towards the backyard and breathlessly dashed passed (pass) them.”