This figure is the same for 2007 and 2010

SEE HER RUMPLED BOSOM(Ibrahim)!!!

Credit: 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 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, I thought it was appropriate that I use the president’s CNN interview, which millions of Nigerians watched, as a teaching moment. This is precisely 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.
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. [b][/b]

This pix was taken in Abuja..................Nigeria we hail thee!!!!

Slizbeat: Jaiz bank ko, jazz bank ni. So long as it has an islamic license, it shouldnt operate around the south east/south south, period. They tried islamising 9ja 2ru boko bt it wont work, Now they setup a non-interest collecting bank so as to cease our cash after depositing them so we wont be able to buy arms whenever they begin thier senseless killing. Hmm, nice plan but your plan will fail except for some people who just heard "non-interest...." and jumps into it without getting to know its hidden agenda. Well go on, let the wise hear and abstain from it if they like.

The Non-Interest financial Banking system is working in European nations, it did not Islaminize them. Lets just try and disconnect everything from BH. We Nigerians are making dis faceless M/f**kers have face.

A 22-year-old Nigerian has emerged the best graduating s tudent of John Hopkins University in the United States. He obtained a Grade Point Average of 3.98 out of a possible 4.0 to earn a degree in Neurosciences, SEGUN OLUGBILEwrites.

A 22-year-old Nigerian, Emmanuel Ohuabunwa, has made history at [b]John Hopkins University, United States of America. Ohuabunwa from Arochukwu, Abia State, has done the nation proud by becoming the first black man to make a Grade Point Average of 3.98 out of 4.0 to bag a degree in Neurosciences in the university. He was also adjudged as having the highest honours during the graduation that was held on May 24 this year.

For his efforts, he has won a scholarship to Yale University to pursue a degree in medicine. Besides, he has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Society, a prestigious honour group that features membership of 17 US Presidents, 37 US Supreme Court Justices, and 136 Nobel Prize winners.

According to Wikipedia, The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honour society. Its mission is to “celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences” and induct “the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities.”

It was founded at The College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776, and thus it is the oldest honour society for the liberal arts and sciences and among the oldest undergraduate societies in the US.

In an online interview with our correspondent, Ohuabunwa, who was born in Okota, Lagos and attended Lilly Fields Primary School, Lagos, said he left Nigeria after his junior secondary school education at Air Force Comprehensive School, Ibadan, Oyo State.

“My parents moved the whole family when I was 13 years old. I was about to begin SS1 at Air Force, Ibadan. When I got to the US, I was enrolled with my age mates, which meant at 13, I was in middle school. I went to Fondren Middle School, which was in the middle of the ghetto. That was one of the darkest years for me because I encountered a lot of peer pressure. Some of the students, ignorant about Africa, bullied me and called me names such as ‘African booty scratcher’ because to them, Africans were dirty and scratched their butts all the time.

“Some asked me if I lived in mud huts and ate faeces for breakfast. I remember one day, when I was walking to the school bus, a boy came from behind and punched me in the face, called me an African and walked away. It took everything in me not to retaliate. I knew that God had put me in the U.S for a purpose and it did not involve fighting or selling drugs or doing the wrong things.

“My experience during that year gave me a thick skin. I learned to stand for what I thought was right even when the opposition seemed insurmountable. I also learned to look at the positive in all situations. Even though these kids were bullying me, I was still gaining an opportunity to school in America and nothing would stop me from making the best of this opportunity.

“The shocker was that the kid that punched me in the face was black. I would have expected the blacks to be nicer to me. Nevertheless, I don’t blame those kids because they were ignorant about Africa. All they knew about us was the stuff they had watched on TV or documentaries, showing primitive African tribes, living in the jungle and making noises like monkeys.

“In regards to the whites, there might have been some minor episodes but again I don’t blame them for it because it is a problem with stereotypes,” he said.

But in spite of this humiliation and racial prejudice against him, the first in a family of three was not discouraged. He faced his studies and was always coming top in his class. After he completed his middle school education, he passed the entrance examination to DeBakey High School for Health Professions. It was at this school that his interest in neurosciences and medicine started.

“By the second year of high school, we were able to interact with doctors, nurses and other administrators in the hospital. The more I learned about medicine, the more it felt like the thing God was calling me to pursue and by being in the US I got a lot of people to support me to do this. Even though in high school, I got to see first-hand what it meant to be a doctor. We studied advanced anatomy and physiology, learned medical terminology, and learned important skills, such as checking blood pressure, pulse rate, and many more.

“I knew I wanted to go to the best school in the US. I had heard that Johns Hopkins Hospital had been ranked the number one hospital in the US for the past 21 years and I wanted to be in that environment.’’

Worried that his parents might not be able to sponsor him to the university, Ohuabunwa purposed to work very hard. He did and when the result of the PSAT came, he performed so well that he won the National Achievement Scholar.

By virtue of this award, he received certificates of recognition from various organisations including senators from the Congress of both Texas and the US. He also received scholarship from the University of Houston; Rice University, Texas A&M Honors College and many more.

He had also won the Principal’s Award during the annual awards ceremony at DeBakey High School.

“During our graduation ceremony at DeBakey, I also won the Award for the Most Outstanding Senior Young Man and the student volunteer award for my volunteer activities in the State of Texas,” he said.

But his breakthrough came when he won the Bill and Belinda Gates Foundation full scholarship to any university of his choice. He worked hard and gained admission to Johns Hopkins University to study Neurosciences.

But why Neurosciences, Ohuabunwa said, “I studied Neuroscience, because I was fascinated with the brain, its control of our behaviours and how various diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, lead to a decline in its activity. I also minored in Psychology because I wanted to understand disorders in the psyche. What causes bipolar disorders or schizophrenia. I did not just want to label them as crazy but to understand what causes these conditions and how we can treat them,’’ he explained.

But what does he consider to be the missing links in the education sector of Nigeria when compared with that on offer in US, Ohuabunwa said unpredictable academic calendar, corruption, examination malpractice and inadequate funding were some of the problems confronting his home country’s university sector. These, he said, were absent in the US.

“There were a few problems with Nigerian higher education that contributed to our emigration in 2003. The first was the number of strikes that occurred in schools. It took my uncle seven years to graduate with a degree that should have taken him only four years. A second problem was the corruption. We had heard of people going into universities, because they paid someone to look the other way. I also heard of a few cheating scandals, where people would pay someone to take their exams for them or get a copy of the exam a few days before,” he said.

But is he saying that US university system has no such problems at all? Ohuabunwa said, “Although this sometimes occurs in the U.S, it is less common because of the strict security. I remember when taking the Medical College Admissions Test, test required before one can matriculate into medical school, each student had to get his fingerprints taken every time we entered and left the hall. The whole place was packed with cameras and security staff that monitored everything we were doing. The exam was computerised to make sure that no one saw the test before the actual date.”

Another difference, he said, is that America rewards hard-work while the system also emphasises on a balance between academic life and extracurricular activities.

On how he won the scholarship to Yale, Ohuabunwa said his 3.98 GPA in Neurosciences, and many awards he had won and God’s grace, contributed to his winning the scholarship.

“As at the time of my application for medical school, I had a 3.98 GPA of a 4.0. This made me the only black student inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa. I was also awarded the Becker Family Scholarship for being the most outstanding student in the Neuroscience major at Johns Hopkins University. Furthermore, by God’s grace, I took the MCAT and scored in the top five percentile.

“That, combined with my hours of volunteer service in different hospitals across the US allowed me to gain acceptance into every medical school I applied to, including Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and Cornell. As the time came to make a decision, I had narrowed it down to Harvard and Yale. Both schools, I enjoyed visiting. Nevertheless, while my parents prayed, they asked God to give us a sign of what school to attend. A few days later, I received a letter from Yale Medical School, offering me a full ride scholarship for all four years. That was the sign from God,” he said.

But would he come back to Nigeria after the completion of his programme, he said yes.

“I am absolutely interested in the health care policy decisions in Nigeria. Because there are many changes that need to occur, I will not rule out the possibility of coming back after my studies, in order to join hands with the leaders to make these changes possible.’’

He added that his ambition is to become a medical doctor specialising in brain surgery.

“Two weeks ago, my grandmother passed away after a long battle with strokes. Even during emergencies, it was difficult for her to get to the hospital, let alone get treatment. This is a common theme not only in the health care system of Nigeria, but in different countries in the world, where the poor get neglected.

“Second, Nigerian hospitals lack the infrastructure required to compete with major hospitals around the world. It would be an honour to one day contribute to this transformation that is necessary for improvements in Nigeria’s health care sector,” he said.

He, however, advised Nigerian youths who have the wherewithal, to go abroad to study. Ohuabunwa also called on wealthy Nigerians to invest more in the education of the poor rather than in acquisition of material things.

Ohuabunwa, however, said that his parents, who he described as his greatest role models, contributed a lot to his academic feat through Godly training, counsel and guidance. He also did not forget the impact that his short stay at Air Force school had on him.

“I was definitely not the brightest at Air Force. At that time, I felt like I spent more time running away from seniors than focusing on my studies. Nevertheless, I learned three things at Air Force that have served me well in the US. I learned discipline, adaptability and resilience. These attributes helped me a lot in US,” he said.

MKO and Education by an Ex Fed. Govt. College Ogbomoso student.
Hello all,
I decided to do this write-up to remind us of what MKO Abiola represented. My aim is not to say if the President used the right process and or timing to re-name a university. Rather its to de- bunk that claim that MKO was a sports supporter and a stadium should bear his name and not a University. Some even say erroneously that Abiola didn't do anything for the educational sector.
In the late 80s and early 90s, universities had serious financial challenges. As a coping strategy, they started organising fund -raising events. In virtually all the cases MKO was the chief launcher. He was always there, doling out huge sums.
Then he got tired . Not of giving money but attending the ceremonies. So in 1990, Chief Abiola gave NI,000,000 to each state university for improvement of students welfare; N500,000 to each Federal University for students welfare, and N250,000 to each Nigerian polytechnic for students welfare. So in one swoop, He gave each and every university and polytechnic in Nigeria a grant. This was unprecedented. Till date no one has done that.
I still remember how I helped a class -mate prepare an application for this fund when he needed a hearing aid.
In 1990, he donated N30,000,000 to the Oyo State Educational Development Fund. MKO funded the construction of over 60 secondary schools in Nigeria. I think I should remind us that MKO was the first newspaper publisher to publish in the 3 Nigerian languages.
I remember that MKO provided grant for the University of Ado-Ekiti to provide Students’ accommodation. Also there are MKO endowment for scholarships in many universities and professional organisations.
MKO support for education wasn't limited to Nigeria alone. At the Howard University, The Abiola Fellowship of $3000 was established for the Department of African Studies by Chief M.K.O. Abiola.


Was he not?

MKO and Education by an Ex Fed. Govt. College Ogbomoso student.

Hello all,
I decided to do this write-up to remind us of what MKO Abiola represented. My aim is not to say if the President used the right process and or timing to re-name a university. Rather its to de- bunk that claim that MKO was a sports supporter and a stadium should bear his name and not a University. Some even say erroneously that Abiola didn't do anything for the educational sector.
In the late 80s and early 90s, universities had serious financial challenges. As a coping strategy, they started organising fund -raising events. In virtually all the cases MKO was the chief launcher. He was always there, doling out huge sums.
Then he got tired . Not of giving money but attending the ceremonies. So in 1990, Chief Abiola gave NI,000,000 to each state university for improvement of students welfare; N500,000 to each Federal University for students welfare, and N250,000 to each Nigerian polytechnic for students welfare. So in one swoop, He gave each and every university and polytechnic in Nigeria a grant. This was unprecedented. Till date no one has done that.
I still remember how I helped a class -mate prepare an application for this fund when he needed a hearing aid.
In 1990, he donated N30,000,000 to the Oyo State Educational Development Fund. MKO funded the construction of over 60 secondary schools in Nigeria. I think I should remind us that MKO was the first newspaper publisher to publish in the 3 Nigerian languages.
I remember that MKO provided grant for the University of Ado-Ekiti to provide Students’ accommodation. Also there are MKO endowment for scholarships in many universities and professional organisations.
MKO support for education wasn't limited to Nigeria alone. At the Howard University, The Abiola Fellowship of $3000 was established for the Department of African Studies by Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

How come you guys forget things so soon. What if it was a plan to attack the convoy like they attacked Edo State Gov.'s own? What if a speeding road user rammed into it and die? Please always think before you post.

Someone out there should assist me in Downloading the Samsung Kies Version 1.5.1.10074_45 on my Galaxy S please.

Please how do I change my profile name in Nairaland?

please assist me SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!

How do i check the amount of time or bites left on my IPad ( Etisalat network)

Can you please give me the site to download it?

What do I now do?

Abeg i dey try run iTunes setup on my my PC, and the shege dey tell me say"iTunes Setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application" Abeg helep me out ooooo!!!!

Each time I try Running the Itunes Setup on my system, it tell me "iTunes Setup.exe is not a Win 32 application"

Let her soul rest in peace!!!!!!!!!!!
Did she not do anything goood?
I she did? let her rest.

What a loss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Polish man moved to the USA and married an American girl,
Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very well,
One day he rushed into a lawyer's office and asked him if he could arrange a
divorce for him.
The lawyer said that getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances,
and asked him the following questions:

Have you any grounds?
Yes, an acre and half and nice little home.

No, I mean what is the foundation of this case?
It made of concrete.

I don't think you understand. Does either of you have a real grudge?
No, we have carport, and not need one.

I mean. What are your relations like?
All my relations still in Poland

Is there any infidelity in your marriage?
We have hi-fidelity stereo and good DVD player.

Does your wife beat you up?
No, I always up before her.

Is your wife a nagger?
No, she white.

Why do you want this divorce?
She going to kill me.

What makes you think that?
I got proof.

What kind of proof?
She going to poison me. She buy a bottle at drugstore
and put on shelf in bathroom. I can read, and it say: 'Polish Remover'

I mean my laptop. Acer travel mate 5520.

How can I download adobe flash player on my phone?

My sony ericsson k610i keeps going off.
Pls what should i do?

HULL CITY WAS THE FIRST TO BEAT ARSENAL
BEFORE ALL CITY(STOKE CITY, MAN CITY ETC)
BEAT THEM.

Going to Bombay to view some hidden treasures.

Going to Bombay to :oview some hidden treasures.