Some Nigerians are very fluent in both oral and written Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages altogether and as such English language is a fourth language for them. Otherwise, English is a second language to those Nigerians who are privileged to attend schools in Nigeria to learn how to read and write in English. Our colonial master, Britain, imposed English as the official language on us in which the multi-ethnic Nigeria must be governed but Britain decided to deny absolute majority of Nigerians assess to school to learn the imposed official language properly. To govern people in a language they do not speak or understand is not only fraudulent but undemocratic. After receiving national flag and anthem from Britain, there have been planned universal primary education for all children of school age in Nigeria but government leaders at federal, state and local government level sabotaged the plan by stealing appropriated funds for free primary education to all Nigerian children. However, many Nigerian parents struggled to send their children to school and pay for it. It must be added that not all the children whose parents could afford to pay for their education got admission as schools and teachers were in shortage. Most of our Nigerian Professors, especially in the North, had parents who were merely Alhaji and not literate in English language. English, being only an official language in Nigeria implies that it is not spoken generally in most homes which limits perfection in the language as against what obtains in native Britain and its extensions America, Australia and New Zealand. At home and markets in Nigeria, pidgin English or indigenous languages are used in conversations and conducting businesses or trades. We must understand that learning how to read, write and understand English as Nigerians is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Nigerians who have acquired knowledge in science, engineering and medicine through English language must be appreciated and should not be rebuked or ridiculed for not writing Queen's English by those whose entire lives have been devoted to studying only English language. It is so that the British people and their extensions in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are always too happy to meet Nigerians communicate with them in understandable English language and they never bother about minor grammatical mistakes we might commit while discussing with them because they are intelligent enough to understand that English language is not our mother tongue. Therefore, this discussion about defective Nigerian English emanating from 419 scam letters is uncalled for because European and American recipients never complained about the English grammars in the 419 emails. Europeans and American receivers of Nigeria's 419 mails understood that 419ers wanted to use their bank accounts to transfer million of dollars from Nigeria to which the account owners in Europe and America would be compensated with 30% of the amount transferred. It was when Nigeria's 419ers emptied the accounts of their European and American collaborators who had hoped to share in the stolen money from Nigeria that 419ers became fraudsters to them. Sincerely yours, I don't see how discussion about 'Nigerian English' can advance the fortune of Nigeria in economics, science, technology and industrialisation, when other non-English speaking countries of the world, outside Africa, are making progress. Reacting to the introduction by the author an article, Nigerian English, in the Journal of Communication Inquiry, you wrote, "At other times members *(of this forum) don't want to be the focus of linguistic analysis... " *My own addition. Permit me to expatiate on this.
On Friday, 28 October 2016, a member of this forum responded to Professor Toyin Falola's intervention thus, "This 'ourightly war is all my fault. I used the word innocently recently without ever knowing that it had been explicitly banned as non-standard by English Professor Farooq on these boards. One of my usual caterwauling traducers - fancifully called Nebukadineze - then wrote that it was not an English word at all, only for me to show that it exists in several reputable online dictionaries (I have not bought a physical dictionary in forty years), only for Farooq to write that only words in the physical Oxford dictionary count, particularly in polite company should be used by educated professional elites like himself and yours truly." On the same day, Farooq responded thus, "It is true your post was the immediate trigger for my column, but I had written about this at least 7 years earlier, as the embedded link in my article shows. It wasn't 'your bait' that inspired my intervention, it was both because I had written about it several times in the past and because I wanted to give people who might want to know the whole story of 'outrightly' and other peculiar Nigerian English words and expressions the benefit of my knowledge."
"It may interest you to know that online dictionaries didn't have an entry for 'outrightly' 7 years ago when I first wrote on the word. It was added, courtesy of repeated searches for the word in search boxes of online dictionaries, apparently by non-native English speakers who habitually use it on analogy to the adverbial form of 'right'."
"You have lived in the US continuously for more than four decades, mostly in University environments. Ask any of your American friends or colleagues if they use 'outrightly' as the adverb of 'outright'. Maybe we should ask Dr. Harrow, a professor of English and native speaker of the language, how the word sounds to him."
Having written about how wrong it was to use the word 'outrightly' seven years earlier, Farooq was enraged that a member of this forum was still using it and that triggered his immediate reaction. He averred that when he first wrote on 'outrightly' seven years earlier, online dictionaries did not have entry for the word. He maintained that the online dictionaries had added the word to please non-native English speakers that had searched for the word. Was he insinuating or how did he know the reason why the online dictionaries had added the word 'outrightly' in its entries? The online dictionaries are not created by Nigerians for Nigerians only and their services are worldwide. If Farooq had any objection to the approval of the use of the word, 'outrightly' he should direct his objection to the proprietors of online dictionaries and not to the member of the forum that had used it. As if he has been empowered to police the use of English words by forum mates, he then resorted to uncouth manner to address the user of the word 'outrightly'. He wrote, "You have lived in the US continuously for more than four decades, mostly in University environments. Ask any of your American friends or colleagues if they use 'outrightly' as the adverb of outright." One would have thought that he was addressing his son or his student and not a PhD holder and a Chemical Engineer.
On 11 April 2018, when Professor Falola posted a press release issued by the VC Obafemi Awolowo University on sex-for-mark scandal affecting the institution, Farooq was quick at condemning the VC for what he termed, "this embarrassingly, error-ridden news release, that portrayed the VC as not knowing the difference between sexual harassment and sexual assault." Farooq then tutored the VC of OAU thus, "Engaging in sex with a student in exchange for grades isn't sexual harassment. It's unvarnished sexual assault." Yet, from all information available out of the sex-for-mark scandal, it has been established that the female student in question had refused to accede to the request of the lecturer for sex in exchange for mark, implying that sexual engagement between the student and the lecturer never occurred. Thus, the VC of OAU was absolutely right when he described what the lecturer did as sexual harassment. As Abraham Maslow put it, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." Farooq sees all economic and industrial problems in Nigeria as emanating from misuse of English words because he is a professor of English language. While introducing his article on Nigerian English in the Journal of Communication Inquiry to forum members, Farooq wrote, "Anyway, for people who have a scholarly interest in Nigerian English, here is my latest journal article that explores how Nigerian English phraseology popularized by 419 scam emails contribute to the criminalization and pathologization Nigerian identity and sociolinguistic singularities online." I have checked in Oxford and Collins English Dictionaries as well as Dictionary of Medical Terms for the word PATHOLOGIZATION without success and my computer marks the word red as a misnomer. It appears Farooq has invented a new noun, PATHOLOGIZATION, different from the real one called Pathology of which its adjective forms are pathologic and pathological, and its adverb form is pathologically. I will not say that Farooq is afflicted with 419 Nigerian English for his use of the word, PATHOLOGIZATION as he did with a forum member that expressed himself with the word, OUTRIGHTLY. Rather his PATHOLOGIZATION expression stands only to illustrate that no matter how long a mangrove tree stays under water, it can never become a crocodile. No matter how brilliant Farooq may be in English language, it is not his mother tongue and he is bound to make mistake at times like all other non-native English speaking Nigerians.
S. Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Windows Live 2018 <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com>
Skickat: den 26 april 2018 21:51
Till: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article onNigerian English
Skickat: den 26 april 2018 21:51
Till: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article onNigerian English
And for the avoidance of doubt that 'everyone' includes you if you do not want to deny yourself the perceptiveness that rightly belongs to you
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>
Date: 25/04/2018 17:31 (GMT+00:00)
To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article onNigerian English
"Everyone knows I'm not that flippant."
I wasn't aware when you took a survey of "everyone" to determine what they knew about your attitude to flippancy. For "everyone" to know that you're not flippant is unquestionably an achievement of no mean feat. Congratulations! But since I presume that I am part of "everyone," I'd appreciate being part of such a survey in the future.
Best wishes,
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging MediaSchool of Communication & Media
Social Science Building
Room 5092 MD 2207
402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Twitter: @farooqkperog
Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 6:14 PM, Windows Live 2018 <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com> wrote:
--I am sure of my facts. And I'm sure I did not say this of others for the same reason. Everyone knows I'm not that flippant
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>Date: 24/04/2018 18:06 (GMT+00:00)To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article onNigerian English
This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (farooqkperogi@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
"It is unlikely I imagined things since I can vividly recall events as early as age 5. I leave it to others to trawl the archives."
That's why it's never a good idea to make definitive claims when you have no evidence to back them up. Your self-congratulatory judgment of the capaciousness of your memory can't be adduced as admissible evidence in any scholarly or conversational tradition. Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts."
Farooq
--
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 5:08 PM, Windows Live 2018 <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com> wrote:
--All I can say for now is welcome back! I t is unlikely I imagined things since I can vividly recall events as early as age 5. I leave it to others to trawl the archives
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>Date: 23/04/2018 20:44 (GMT+00:00)To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article on Nigerian English
"I recall an instance in your altercation in the past with a forumite when you said you deliberately set out in the past to provoke and you succeeded..."
It would help to quote where I ever said that. That should be easy because conversations on this list are archived. Just do a simple "search and find" with my name and appropriate keywords. I don't write for this forum. I write for a broader Nigerian audience. I share my columns here only after they are published in the Daily Trust newspaper and on my blog. How could my columns possibly target specific individuals here?
My weekly reflections on grammar, usage, and language are just that: reflections. If they provoke some people to be self-conscious about grammar, usage and language, that's an ancillary outcome.
Farooq--
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 1:21 PM, Windows Live 2018 <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com> wrote:
--I recall an instance in your altercation in the past with a forumite when you said you deliberately set out in the past to provoke and you succeeded ( like indiscrete and indiscreet I sometimes mix success with single e with succeed with double e when writing 'degree zero' that is on the go without double checks for academic accuracy sometimes the word promoter puts an unintended word and sometimes the finger pokes a neighbouring letter than intended as Prof Aluko rightly diagnosed in a twit sent by Trump)
Such comments in the past vitiates the seriousness of your scholarly cause. At other times members don't want to be the focus of linguistic analysis individually because they feel in a parallel to what CAO said (and what the moderator said regarding copy editing his memoir) that they can choose to speak or write English the way they want ( after all it is now officially recognized, including your own recognition as shown in your article that there are many Englishes.
I know you are concerned with the effect of formal written communications on global recipients but there are several aspects of that.No one would say because in his communication on the listserv Prof Ken Harrow deliberately murders the formal rule of capitalisation he does not know what it means for native formal writing or that he is not a genuine or is unworthy of being called a Prof because no Nigerian prof will be allowed.to get away with that. No one has bothered to take him to task on that and rightly so.
As to the communicative effect of sociologically Nigerian usage on the global stage I would say again which nativity Australian or American? However that does not mean you are not doing a valuable job for intending pilgrims to America of Nigerian persuasion.
Also that does not mean the Toy in Adepojus will not challenge you to go the extra mile to convince them that the situation you project of Nigerians is typical of them. There is no need to be irritated no matter how.much they seem unoersuaded. I agree with you that they don't need to be provincially belligerent in the reception of your work.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>Date: 23/04/2018 17:34 (GMT+00:00)To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article on Nigerian English
OK, I am sure you meant to write "indiscreet," not "indiscrete." Two similar-sounding but wildly different words. Even then, I have no idea what you're trying to say.
Farooq--
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 12:06 PM, Windows Live 2018 <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com> wrote:
--All intellectually motivated discourses of general trends are welcome on forward looking listserves such as ours. What some find abhorrent, indelicate and indiscrete ( of course some don't mind) is the selective public tutoring of individual forumites
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>Date: 23/04/2018 12:01 (GMT+00:00)To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com >Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - My Latest Journal Article on Nigerian English
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I have stopped sharing my weekly grammar column here because the quality of responses I consistently got convinced me that this isn't the proper forum for those kinds of articles. However, a few people, whose contributions I've never read here, have reached out to me privately and requested that I resume sharing the column here. I am still not sure it's worth the trouble, but my column also published on my blog. When the response to a careful sociolinguistic analysis of a peculiar usage pattern is, "You are a colonial apologist," or "English proficiency isn't synonymous with intelligence," or suchlike intellectually impoverished, knee-jerk reaction, you know you're in the wrong crowd for your ideas. There is no way to respond to such banalities without coming across as condescending.--
Anyway, for people on the list who have a scholarly interest in Nigerian English, here is my latest journal article that explores how Nigerian English phraseology popularized by 419 scam emails contribute to the criminalization and pathologization Nigerian identity and sociolinguistic singularities online. The online-first edition of the article was published in the Journal of Communication Inquiry this month. Here is the link: https://www.academia.edu/36470272/_Your_English_is_Suspect_L anguage_Communication_and_the_ Pathologization_of_Nigerian_Cy ber_Identity_Through_the_Styli stic_Imprints_of_Nigerian_ Email_Scams
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
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