Literature

?Magnitude of errors in Nigerian media unpardonable?

Malam Sheriff Abdul-Rauf Ahmed, Editor of the New Nigerian on Sunday, Kaduna, has just published a book on grammar. Titled Correct Your English, the book gives comprehensive explanations on grammatical blunders, especially those done in the Nigerian print media, in this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, he speaks on the book and other related issues

Your recently published book, Correct Your English, as the name implies, is about English grammar. But, specifically, what makes it different from other books on grammar?

Correct Your English is actually not completely different from other books on grammar. Unlike other books written by Nigerians, however, it gives comprehensive explanations on grammatical blunders and provides alternative correct word, phrase, clause or sentence, as the case may be. If the error is structural, the book gives a clear and simple elucidation of why it?s wrong and offers a better option. Similarly, if the error is one of misused idiom, the book gives the accurate idiom and, sometimes, shows how it should be used in a sentence. In the same vein, if the error is one of spelling, it provides the correct spelling. Occasionally, it also gives the difference in usage between British English and American English. This is not common in other books on grammar discourse. So, you see, it?s a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the correct use of English.

Why the particular emphasis on the use of English in the Nigerian media?

The emphasis is on the correct use of English. The Nigerian media are simply the source, or if you like, the reference point. It?s the reference point because it?s readily available for reference. One can lay one?s hands on a particular newspaper or news magazine quite easily. So, when I talk about the media, I?m referring to the print media. I?ve had cause to record a good number of errors of usage on radio and television, but, as you know, these things are not easy to record. When a TV or radio newscaster ?blows? it, for example, while you?re driving or eating or having a bath, how easy is it to record it? Or when the man on the street unleashes a grammatical bomb, how do you intend to record it? The newspapers, therefore, are kind of ready-made tools to always go back to in order to have a grasp of the accurate words or expressions used.

So that?s the reason I call it media English, but sincerely speaking the poor usage as we see in the media is a reflection of the entire Nigerian society ? be it in school, marketplace, the National Assembly, in the streets, in the offices, etc. As a matter of fact, the use of English in this country is, to say the least, unspeakable. Sadly, the media is just one of the greatest culprits. One expects that the media should have the least grammatical errors, or that the use of English should be, to a large extent, error-free. But the kind of things we read in the papers, to be honest with you, shows the deteriorating situation of the use of English in Nigeria. And these cut across news reports, opinion articles and even editorial comments, where you expect to have media think-tanks in control of the English language. We all make mistakes. Nobody, as the saying goes, is perfect. However, the magnitude of errors in the Nigerian media, sometimes, is unpardonable. Read the book thoroughly and you?ll understand what I?m talking about.

Let me tell you this. When I paid a visit to Ghana early this year, I bought copies of the country?s Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times. For the few days that I stayed in the country, I was daily reading those papers. You know what? Hardly did I find the kind of grammatical errors that you and I have been seeing in the Nigerian papers. It tells you there?s a fundamental problem with our English. Or what do you think?

That?s terrible indeed? It is not easy to go through these newspapers and pick out all these ?hidden? errors. How did you go about it, considering how busy you are as an editor?

Well, when you?ve set out to achieve a particular purpose, you have to work very hard to attain your goal. That?s my guiding principle. I hardly set out to do something only to abandon it halfway. Whenever I intend doing something I look at it carefully, examine all that is required to accomplish the set target; and so when I start there?s no going back. The Nigerian media, to large extent, encouraged me to put things together. More often than not, I would pick a newspaper to read not with a view to finding errors of usage, but no sooner had I started reading than I would spot one grammatical blunder or another which I couldn?t overlook. Sometimes the error is so technical that I would deem it a duty to take note of it and address the problem.

Of course, there?re some errors I try to overlook; there?re others, I believe, the general public must be told are unacceptable in Standard English. Again, there are certain errors that are so common that some people think they?re correct usage. Such errors I do not overlook. The whole intention is to contribute to the proper use of the English language, especially when the media is considered a reference point to good written English. This is what I do week in, week out. It?s not easy in view of my busy schedule, but we all have our various ways of contributing our little quota to the development of the society.

The original title of your column in the New Nigerian on Sunday, from which this book is compiled, was ?Mind Your Grammar?, but you later changed to ?Correct Your English?. Why?

You are right. I started writing my column, Mind Your Grammar, way back in the year 2000. The column continued till sometime in 2004 when I performed that year?s Hajj. I was also writing two other weekly columns, apart from my normal schedule of duty and writing at least one editorial every week. I was so overwhelmed by the enormous responsibility at my disposal that I had to rest Mind Your Grammar, especially when the five daily newspapers supplied to me by my employers had reduced to two owing to some financial challenges the company was passing through at the time. The grammar column was rested for over a year. Readers of the popular Sunday column in New Nigerian on Sunday put so much pressure on me that I had no option but to start writing my grammar column again. This time I called it Correct Your English. So, that?s how I came back and since then I?ve consistently maintained the column till this day. The reward of the hard work is the book in your hand.

Apart from journalists, who are your target readers?

As a matter of fact, Correct Your English is relevant not only to journalists, but also to students of SSCE, NECO, JAME and pre-university English Language examinations. It is also relevant to teachers and student of English, Mass Communication, Law, History, the humanities in general as well as those who are desirous to have mastery of English through conscious personal efforts.

In school you studied Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Philosophy, not Journalism, yet today you are not just a successful newspaper editor but an expert at the language of the media. How did this come about?

Well, I was lucky to have a Briton, Mrs. Evans, who taught me both English and Literature way back in form one in secondary school. I must say that she gave us a solid foundation in the use of English. We also had Mr. Stanley Manteca, a Peace Corps member from Canada, who taught us Physics and Additional Mathematics for two years. I was a member of my school?s debating society and the writers? club, which were supervised by the head of the English department. Those guys were instrumental in my love for grammar even though I was a pure science student. While I was in love with the arts subjects, my father wanted me to study science and technical subjects. But my passion for the arts and writing even then knew no bounds. And as fate would have it, I was admitted to study Philosophy at the University of Ibadan, where my proficiency in grammar was enhanced, especially when I did some courses in writing, grammar, communication arts and drama. All these went a long way towards shaping my knowledge of English grammar.

The book contains 225 pages, yet it is just the first volume. How long did it take you to write this; how many volumes are we expecting, and when will the remaining volumes be published?

Wow! The books will come, hopefully, in three volumes. The second volume is ready. I?m looking for some sponsors to get it published. The third volume will be published shortly after the second volume is out, by Allah?s grace. The second volume is about the same length as the first. When I started writing the Mind Your Grammar thing, it wasn?t my intention to put it in a book form. My intention was simply to contribute my quota to the correct use of English in the Nigerian society. Some of the fans of the weekly column I was writing were so impressed by the style I adopted in correcting the stupid mistakes that they advised that for the sake of posterity I should put all the effort together in a book form. Others would call to say I shouldn?t allow my effort to go in vain by advising that I compile the column. So, that?s it. Well, it took me many months to compile volumes one and two.

At the New Nigerian Newspapers, you have this image of a no-nonsense grammarian. Because of your disdain for grammatical errors in the media you even organize informal lecture for your staff during editorial meetings. What inspired this linguistic discipline and concern; and is your effort at inculcating this in your staff paying off?

Am I really a no-nonsense grammarian? You see, my brother, journalists are like social teachers. They are expected not only to dish out accurate information to the public, but also to do so with extraordinary grammatical correctness. But as unbelievable as it may sound, the level of grammatical gaffes found on the pages of some newspapers and news magazines is unacceptably high. Indeed, it?s preposterous. What I?ve observed, over the years, is that a good number of journalists are deficient in basic knowledge of language rules. They take things for granted and so write all sorts of rubbish. And you know that poor communication reflects sloppy thinking. When you?ve been entrusted by a business to communicate its interests, how can you justify being other than a careful custodian of the language that conveys your message? What is even more worrisome is that a good number of these people are communication experts. It?s their job to be accurate, clear and careful with diction, syntax and punctuation.

So what I did when I was appointed to edit New Nigerian on Sunday was to try as much as possible to make my job somewhat easy. If members of your team have certain basic knowledge of grammar, it?s to your own advantage as editor. You have very little to do in terms of editing their scripts. You?ll have added value to the reporter, your organization and the society at large. That was why I started giving lessons in grammar during editorial conferences. I also give tests to make sure what I?m teaching is making impact. I thank God there?s considerable improvement in their ability to communicate effectively. It hasn?t been easy, but we?re still making effort to improve.

How do you intend to publicize and market the book?

You know, this is my first book. I?m virtually new in the business. I?m still consulting the experts on how to market the book and the subsequent ones.

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