Minister of (not for) Education, Prof. Adamu Adamu, sparked a controversy last week. He said some Nigerian graduates could neither read nor write. Some reports indicated that the minister referred to many graduates, not some. Whatever the volume is, the most important thing is that he so publicly indicted Nigerian graduates, even if it is an indictment on the educational system itself.
Adamu spoke in Yola, Adamawa State, through the Director of Tertiary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Rakiya Iliyasu. It was during the commissioning of some projects in a college, with the minister stressing that a number of graduates could neither read nor write in a tolerable manner.
“Some graduates of tertiary institutions across the country cannot read or write applications,” he noted. I guess he means application letters.
His observation is not new. Many stakeholders, especially employers, have continued to express disgust at the way potential or new graduate employees poorly handle English. What, however, makes the latest declaration unique is that it is coming from the minister of education himself. It is, therefore, not surprising that the claim has raised a lot of dust.
Curiously, many of the comments greeting the accusation, which were conceived to tackle him, appear to be justifying his position – in terms of the poor grammar they flaunt. Today, we shall take a look at some of those responses which, I believe, are coming from graduates and undergraduates alike. The comments are those I read in major online news platforms, especially those attracted by the story as published by lindaikejiblogspot. I hope you too are not guilty of some of the blunders they are pregnant with.
We or will?
–What will valued most in Nigeria is certificate we don’t value skills,someone with series of certificate that can’t create anything
The above is one of the comments. How many errors can you identify in the statement? Is it ‘What we value most’ or ‘What will value most’, for instance? What about punctuation? You have in the comment three sentences without a full stop!
These vs This
–This graduates are from the North
This graduates or These graduates? Still, no full stop!
Who’s?
–Who’s fault is it?
Whose, definitely not ‘Who’s’. ‘Who’s’ has a different meaning as it is the contracted version of ‘Who is ‘.
Ambiguity
–Yes. Because they are on strike since you took over office
This is my own way of saying this: Yes, because they have been on strike since you took over office. Yet, the question can still be asked: Who have been on strike: lecturers, students or graduates? So, the statement is ambiguous.
Cease or seize?
–Yes I agree with u but only in the north, I was forced to write exams for students in the north during my NYSC. When I refused the principal threatened to cease all my clearance papers
Permit me to highlight just one or two of the infractions in this. Is it ‘seize’ or ‘cease’? Many of us have to watch this because it is a relatively common error. Then, the writer ought to have ended the comment with a full stop.
Olodo!
I like the exchange here although both chaps are guilty of lazy punctuating:
Commentator one: Lets run a life text on this idiot if he can read or write. God purnish all of u there
Commentator two: Olodo! You claim to know how to write and can’t spell properly. It’s punish not purnish
What is your comment on the two comments?
Being or been?
–You are correct sir been unable to speak or write 80% are gotten from northern if you go there what you be hearing is bah turanci which means no english in hausa and moreover what di you expect when tertiary institutiins arw on strike for one year
There are at least 13 grammatical errors in this! How many can you identify?
Superior than?
You see why this Country cannot move forward TRIBAL SENTIMENTS this iyanmirin people think they are more superior than the rest of us I can tell you here that I was shocked when this iyanmirin guy walked into my office he needed to print an item I handed him a pen and paper to write out what he wanted boy was I shocked is it the misspellings or the grammar I jokingly asked him if this is what he really wanted you know his reply well what’s wrong with this I was stupified do I print the exact thing he had on his manuscript so I decided to ask one of my apprentices to go over it with him and here’s a guy dressed up to the 9th with no sense of english so don’t limit this to only mallams it’s out there alright
I love the way the guy here seeks to detribalise the issue. As he suggests, poor grammar is an epidemic in Nigeria. So, whoever is saying it one tribe or the other that is guilty is simply wasting his or her time. My friend too, however, also let me down with his ‘more superior than’ (superior to) and his ‘no break no jam’ kind of writing that defies full stops and capital letters.
END
Be the first to comment