PRESIDENT JONATHAN'S GRAMMATICAL BOO-BOOS

By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.

For those who don’t know, “boo-boo” is an informal American English term for “an embarrassing mistake.” Every Nigerian knows that good grammar isn’t President Goodluck Jonathan’s strong suit. I was probably the first to publicly call attention to this fact in my April 16, 2010 article about then Acting President Jonathan’s visit to the US.

In the article, titled “Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, that was embarrassing,” I observed, among other things, that during the Q and A session at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jonathan “couldn’t articulate a coherent thought, hardly made a complete sentence, went off on inconsequential and puerile tangents, murdered basic grammar with reckless abandon, repeated trifles ad nauseam, was embarrassingly stilted, and generally looked and talked like a timid high school student struggling to remember his memorized lines in a school debate.” I concluded that he was “unfathomably clueless” and not “emotionally and socially prepared for the job of a president—yet.”

Almost three years after, the president hasn’t changed a bit.

But his January 23, 2013 interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour (watch it below) will probably go down in the annals as his worst international outing as a president, particularly because of the insensate ferocity with which he murdered elementary rules of English grammar.


This isn’t an attempt to ridicule the president’s deficiencies in English. Nor is it an analysis of his interview. Since I write about grammar on this blog every week, I thought it was appropriate that I use the president’s CNN interview, which millions of Nigerians watched, as a teaching moment. This is because the usage patterns of the elite of any country--especially of the president, who is the most important political and cultural figure in a country--tend to get naturalized and imitated by the general population over time. (Next week I will write about how the prominent political and cultural elite of (Anglophone) societies influence the rules of English usage).

I have listed below some of the rankest grammatical bloopers that the president committed during the CNN interview. I have left out clumsy, semantically puzzling constructions that, in my judgment, were the consequence of the familiar, excusable pressures of impromptu dialogic exchange.

1. “Thank you.” Christiane Amanpour started the interview by saying “Goodluck Jonathan, thank you very much for joining me from Davos.” The president’s response to this courteous expression of gratitude was “thank you.” Again, at the end of the interview when Amanpour said, “President Goodluck Jonathan, thank you for joining me,” the president responded by saying “thank you.”

That is not the conventional response to an expression of gratitude in the English language. When someone says “thank you” to you, conversational courtesy in English requires you to respond with such fixed phrases as “you’re welcome,” “(it’s) my pleasure,” etc. Other less familiar responses are “think nothing of it” and “don’t mention it” (which is chiefly British, although it’s now going out of circulation in contemporary British English.) In very casual contexts, it’s usual for people to say “(it’s) not a problem,” “sure,” “you bet,” “not at all,” “any time,” etc.

It is neither conventional nor idiomatic to say “thank you” to a “thank you.”

2. “Committed to work with….” In response to a question about the insurgency in Mali, President Jonathan said, “And that is why the Nigerian government is totally committed to work with other nationals, other friendly governments to make sure that we contain the problems in Mali.” In grammar, the verb that comes after “committed to” is always in the progressive tense, that is, it always takes an “ing” form. So the president should properly say “we are totally committed to working with…”

3. Subject-verb agreement. This rule states that a singular subject agrees with a singular verb (that is, a verb with an “s” at the end) and a plural subject agrees with a plural verb (that is, a verb without an “s” at the end.) It is obvious that the president has a continuing challenge with subject-verb agreement. This comes out clearly in all his media interviews and extempore speeches. For instance, in response to a journalist’s question about the Libyan crisis during a “State of the Nation” media chat in 2011, the president famously said, “Libyan crisis is like a pot of water dropped and everything scatter.”

Of course, it should properly be “everything scatters” since “everything” is a singular subject that always agrees with a singular verb. Perhaps, the president was interlarding his speech with Nigerian Pidgin English (where the phrase “everything scatter scatter,” popularized by Nigerian pop singer Eedris Abdulkareem, is standard and means “everything is upside down.”)

But during the Amanpour interview, in response to another question on Libya, the president again said, “the issue of Libya try to create more problems in the sub region.” Well, it should be “the issue of Libya tries to create…” because “the issue,” which modifies the verb in the sentence, is a singular subject. The president clearly has not the vaguest idea what subject-verb agreement means.

4. “Ghaddafi was thrown.” Who threw Ghaddafi? From where was he thrown? The president probably meant to say “Ghaddafi was overthrown.”

5. “Weapons enter into hands of non-state actors.” This is undoubtedly Nigerian Pidgin English where “enter” functions as a catch-all verb for a whole host of things, such as “enter a bike” (for “ride a bike”), “enter ya shoes” (for “wear your shoes”), etc. The president meant to say “weapons got into the hands of non-state actors.”

6. “And I have said it severally…” Here, the president fell into a popular Nigerian English error: the misuse of “severally” to mean “several times.” This is what I wrote in a previous article titled “Adverbial and Adjectival Abuse in Nigerian English”: “Perhaps the trickiest of the adverbs we misuse is the word ‘severally.’ We often use the word as if it meant ‘several times.’ It is typical for Nigerians to say ‘I have told you severally that I don’t like that!’ or ‘I have been severally arrested by the police.’ In Standard English, however, ‘severally’ does not mean ‘several times’; it only means individually, singly, independently, without others, etc., as in ‘the clothes were hung severally.’ This means the clothes are apart from each other and don’t touch each other. Strikingly odd, not so?”

7. “They should try and filter the truth.” This is the full context of this odd sentence: Amanpour told President Jonathan that the US State Department has said that police brutality has killed more Nigerians than Boko Haram has. This outraged the president who said the following in response: “The State Department from the United States they have, they have the means of knowing the truth. They should try and filter the truth.”

Now, to filter (out) is to “remove or separate (suspended particles, wavelengths of radiation, etc.) from (a liquid, gas, radiation, etc.) by the action of a filter.” Example: “Filter out the impurities.” By metaphorical extension, if someone “filters the truth,” as President Jonathan is urging the US State Department to do, they are actually removing the truth which, in essence, means they are lying. In other words, Jonathan is asking the US government to ignore the truth and embrace falsehood. Of course, that is not what he meant. But that is what he comes across as saying.

8. “…before the bulb can light.” This is a semantically and structurally awkward construction. It’s probably the translation of the president’s native language, which is fine. But it is confusing for people who don’t speak his language. You can light a bulb with something, such as a battery, but can a bulb “light”? The bulb has no agency. Perhaps, the president meant to say “before the bulb can light up.” Light up is a fixed verb phrase.


Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
www.farooqkperogi.com/

Like Husband Like Wife...Only God knows what the children will be up to.
Naija noniiiiiii

Waiting for this nonsense to get to the front page,so I can thrash some things out of your medulla oblongata.#patiently waiting#

What do you expect from patience's husband no wonder he spent 9 years to get his phd,in fact the phd was given to him when he was deputy governor after which may be out of patronage.

This man should go and sit down.english is not his first language and besides i can come up with my own dictionary tomorrow.

“Weapons enter into hands of non-state actors.” Chei, Ngwere agbaa aji, Ewu ataa mu igu n'isi,

Yes, english is not our 1st language, bt even at dat, some of dose gramatical errors were so so elementary. Haba

ABEG NA TO GOVERN US WELL BE KOKO JARE

Smh Na wash

English is not our first language afterall, Even here on nairaland, I see a lot of gbagauns.


Back to τђΞ president, I think his advisers should insisit, he is interviewed in his local dialect or in pigeon English.

I doesn't knows what to say sha!

When will some people realize the fact that flawless English does not improve productivity? Even if every one in Nigeria hold a Ph.D in English language it won't improve our economy an inch. For the sake of economic growth and technology people should stop licking the Queen's a.s.s and give priority to more productive things. Can the chinese prime minister speak english? Or France maybe Germany. Misplace priority na him d kill us. Poster is obviously a worthless Ph.D holder in English. Na play I dey play oh op, b4 u begin yab me!!

"Weapons enter into hands of non-state actors"- Modernised Creek English

israel007: I doesn't knows what to say sha!

O o boy. You almost killed me with laughter. E mi o male rin ooo.

Ha! They takes every ones by surprises.

tpacalipse: O o boy. You almost killed me with laughter. E mi o male rin ooo.

Lmho. Your own na three musch sef

Communication is an important part of leadership. Presentation skills, writing skills and speech delivery skills are important components in leadership development and you are made to learn these on a leadership course. If you lack these skills as a leader, you are seen as a mediocre and as such you are not to be taken serious.

I say this because a lot of people are under the illusion that "it does not matter", what matters is your ability to "complete road projects". That is a big lie!

If you know you are lacking and at the same time you have the ambition to grow in your career or as a professional, you need to start learning today. There is no harm, there is no shame, it is an important part of leadership.

Don't get up there and start learning on the job like Jona aka trainee President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

No comments...

This is the least of his problems and quite embarrassing for an african to be concerned with bad grammatical errors.If only he had common sense to know that accountability is the key to victory and bring all the bad eggs in nigeria to book.

Since we cannot begin to teach Mr president how to speak perfect grammar at old age, I suggest the writer (Farooq A. Kperogi) should look for a way of downloading his mastery of the English language to students in secondary and primary school, who are more amenable to correction. By so doing he'll be contributing to a better Nigeria because the youths are the future of Nigeria.

I think it is wrong and misplacement of priority for the writer to expend time and energy in picking errors in Mr presidents statements and writting ridiculous articles.

The writer comes across as some jobless person because it will take a jobless person to have all the time in world to produce this sort of ridiculous and purposeless article. The popular saying- an idle mind is the devil's workshop- does not preclude PhD holders. It is also possible that, being a PhD holder, he is being paid to churn out articles to ridicule Mr president.

Whatever the case may be, the writer should be advised to deploy his energy and talents/knowledge for the COMMON GOOD of the nation.

I hope the writer will not also subject my post to microscopical evaluation for grammatical errors. If he does, I doubt I'll escape his hammer.

Abeg make una leave jo-boy alone. If he interlace pidgin with English, so what? Is pidgin not our language? the bottom-line is to deliver good governance, speak english like an illetrate fisher-man, i don't give a hoot but deiliver dividends of democracy, is what d people want. Buhari would not fear any better, he too has poor communication skills especially in English, so what are we talking about here.

From my observations thus, those who speak better english when it comes to delivery of their mandate are even worse than those who speaks d language dis-jointedly. So abeg make una leave Jo-boy, the koko is like we say in Naija is " idea is needed" Amanpour could understand him, and he in return can understand Amanpour, what if Amanpour was talking to Obahigbon, wouldn't she be lost.

The truth of d matter Jonathan has communicated and the reciever did not complain or kept on saying "sorry, can u please repeat yourself Mr President" so Guys Abeg make una leave Mr President alone oh!!!!

when weapon enter there hands ....my 5yrs old cousin wont say such, too bad.Abati has alot to do .. i wonder y some plpp are taking side ..we sud call a spade and spade.Phd Hölder....Smh

sincerly speaking the writer is just misbehaving and talking anyhow. Let him go and listen to the chinese president speaking english.

GEJ FOR 2015 - 2019. Bribe me or else it shall come to pass

Olodo 1: sincerly speaking the writer is just misbehaving and talking anyhow. Let him go and listen to the chinese president speaking english.

If only the Chinese president is a Phd holder Don't let me spake like kringlori Else your become a zebodaya. Of a President. Anuk talk nonsense!

Hmmmm.....all I want from Nigerian president is boldness and composure not timidity ......


No be English/grammars jare,all we ask is Good Governance!!!



Make Oyinbo people too come speak Ijo language!!! Yeye!!

ballabriggs: Communication is an important part of leadership. Presentation skills, writing skills and speech delivery skills are important components in leadership development and you are made to learn these on a leadership course. If you lack these skills as a leader, you are seen as a mediocre and as such you are not to be taken serious.

I say this because a lot of people are under the illusion that "it does not matter", what matters is your ability to "complete road projects". That is a big lie!

If you know you are lacking and at the same time you have the ambition to grow in your career or as a professional, you need to start learning today. There is no harm, there is no shame, it is an important part of leadership.

Don't get up there and start learning on the job like Jona aka trainee President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In your feeble mind, Jonathan does not communicate properly in English abi? As long as he speaks 100 percent understandable English language which he does perfectly, then he's communicating/ or can communicate properly with anyone who understands English language. Or maybe its because he doesn't have a phoney American accent like y'all?

What the hell is wrong with you nigerians in the first place? If you want a grammarian as president, then persuade or Obiahagbon or whatever his name is to contest for the presidency come 2015. Or better still, you can vote for the Fresh party.
Its ironic that most of you who are criticising the president for the poor quality of his oral English are Buhari supporters. Does Buhari speak better English than Goodluck?

J12:

In your feeble mind, Jonathan does not communicate properly in English abi? As long as he speaks 100 percent understandable English language which he does perfectly, then he's communicating/ or can communicate properly with anyone who understands English language. Or maybe its because he doesn't have a phoney American accent like y'all?

What the hell is wrong with you nigerians in the first place? If you want a grammarian as president, then persuade or Obiahagbon or whatever his name is to contest for the presidency come 2015. Or better still, you can vote for the Fresh party.
Its ironic that most of you who are criticising the president for the poor quality of his oral English are Buhari supporters. Does Buhari speak better English than Goodluck?

I will tell you why you are wrong. You see over half of the population in Britain speak very terrible English. This is a known fact if you have lived in England- "you know what I'm saying", "ye ye", "izzit" and "innit". All used in hiding their inadequacies in English.

And this brings me to my point, you cannot be a leader in Britain with such terrible style of English. You cannot be a leader in Britain without the ability to carry yourself and deliver a message confidently. You start receiving this training from an early stage in your development and in the competency framework of a leader, this box must be ticked.

Goodluck Jonathan cannot even get basic tenses right and he is the President of an English speaking country! If we all speak bad English in Nigeria, then it may be acceptable. However that is not the case as a lot of homegrown Nigerians speak very good English. Buhari does not get his tenses wrong and he never passed through a University not to talk of having a PhD. So what is Jona's problem, he had no shoes to go to school?

In addition he could be forgiven if he shows a lot of confidence when speaking but what we have is a very timid man in front of the camera. He is asked questions and he gives an incoherent answer to the questions. He does not seem a man that organises his thoughts which is a basic when speaking.

Leader of the most populous black country in the World? Who will take you serious when dealing with you? The World we live in today is a very competitive World and the ability to communicate your case effectively is critical.


Communication, presentation skills, speech delivery skills, public speaking skills e.t.c. These are critical parts of leadership and if you know you are lacking, go and brush yourself up today.

Is it not the same UK where Gordon Brown was prime minister? Wetin you dey talk sef?

Goodluck Jonathan communicates better than Gordon Brown in English language. Yes, I said it.

Let me commend you for this superb write up, before leaving Nigeria I would have sworn that I am an orator but upon arrival to a country where Englsh is the sole medium of communication I descovered that my knowledge and usage of English is very limited even though I am better than some of my peers, I am still in the process of upgrading my English language skills from the "Nigerian English to standard English", generally, in Nigeria our usage of English language is really poor when compared to that of the Ghanians, Zambians and a few other Aglophone African countries, in other to change this situation we must reduce the usage of "Pidgin English" and introduce international English exams (TOEFL, IELTS, etc) as a prerequisite to university admission, now, to Johathan, I think that his usage and pattern of speech is the general trend in Nigeria. Obasanjo, Yaradua, Abubakar, Buhari and others are not better, however, I have to point out that the public expect better from Jonathan "a P.hD holder". Jalal, can we connect? I can do with your assistance.

PHD

Keep picking on GEJ while he keeps waxing stronger.
Your Buhari talks like a Gorrilla and is not anywhere
near GEJ.

Besides, the writer's cricisms in point 6, 7 and 8 are just
ridiculous.