I have seen some interesting arguments on instagram defending our FIRST LADY's poor command of the English Language.The most ridiculous in my opinion, is the easy fall back we all joke with "English is not our first language". I call bull!!!!! This woman is supposed to be a university graduate right? WITH MULTIPLE DEGREES!!! The last time I checked all graduate institutions in Nigeria teach in English. All the schools in the South teach in English (I would assume that's the case for most of the country). How in the world did she end up being so inarticulate? Most Nigerians are bilingual but for God's sake English is the official language of Nigeria and this woman (even though she is not an elected official) represents the country as the First Lady. If she cannot speak English, fine then i fully support that she defaults to whatever language she is most proficient in, even if it's pidgin English, that way she can have a translator and save us this embarrassment.
She and everyone in her "office" should be ashamed! I bet she is surrounded by sycophants who are too scared to tell her the truth. Does she not have friends? Doesn't she watch herself on TV? How can she think this is okay? How long has she been first lady? She's had enough time to hire private tutors to brush her English up. This is inexcusable.As for the screaming/crying and reminding everyone that there is God, that was very unprofessional in my opinion. You can do that when you are talking with your friends, not during official business. That was not the time or place for such theatrics.
The good news is after she's no longer Nigeria's First Lady (whenever that happens), she most definitely has a promising career in Nollywood.
Period
The End!
If you closed your eyes and listened without watching, it definitely just sounded like someone having a loud conversation. Certainly not any type of official address. SMH.
ReplyDeleteI tried watching it with a straight face but I just couldn't resist the urge to laugh. I'm sorry but it's hilarious. You medical students need to stop SHARING blood.
ReplyDeleteI don't even understand why anybody would be defending her poor grammar.
ReplyDeleteSince Monday I've been replaying the video over and over again and I can't get enough of it. It's very funny and quite sad to watch at the same time.
@segun pryme "stop sharing bloods". i share your sentiments madame sting and i have said as much but you put it across better. when i watched it the first time i was hoping she said 'shedding' but o no! she had to say sharing. my annoyance is that this woman must know nigerians have ridiculed her poor command of english over and over again. for someone who has a lil bit of respect - for themselves and for the rest of nigerians - i expected she would have at least gotten a script and stuck to it. for goodness' sake it was not an impromptu speech!
ReplyDeleteIt's not news that Patience Jonathan has no command of the English Language. ... One might even say she's a stark illiterate
ReplyDeleteIt's still no news that she has not tried to improve herself from the incoherent English she manages to sputter from time to time. .. and that's such a shame on both her and the president.
The bigger shame though is that Nigerians, residing in this safe-less mess of a country where girls...234 girls can be picked from their school and help hostage for three weeks...would rather crack jokes about the obvious (madam's english) than the reason she called the meeting in the first place.
I have a lot of respect for you Scorpio so I'm not here to cast aspersions on your person... but the more I see posts like this the more I'm forced to question if Nigerians in Nigeria are normal people.... A country where we can't empathize? A people who are so intelligent that they look only towards making mockery of other people's inadequacies? There is an issue on ground and till now we are still laughing at Patience?
What a joke of a people.... really, there is God
I don't take any offense at your comment because what you said is valid. Besides, the "umbrella" joke that went around a few years ago, i have never heard Patience Jonathan speak before this video. So i think i can be excused for being in shock
DeleteThis post was not simply to deride her English but also to point out her unprofessional theatrics. How does screaming and crying that there is God further the cause of bringing those girls home? That meeting was official business and there is no excuse for her to act like that. Good command of English or not.
I know that i am not a Nigerian in Nigeria, but let's be realistic here, besides advocating on social media, participating in rallies and protests, what can the common man do that will really make a difference in the LONG term? I haven't forgotten #enoughisenough. Do we now have constant electricity?
We have a military who should not have let this Boko Haram mess get out of hand. Their job is to protect Nigerian citizens. So if the average Nigerian wants to cope with the madness that is getting more out of control daily by making jokes, I can't blame them too much because i'm sure that at the end of the day, we all want things to be better and a lot of people feel helpless.
Let me point out once again that I am not disputing that your points are valid, but i don't think things are so black and white. I am just thankful that since we can't help ourselves, other countries have stepped in to help us. Hopefully, there will be an end to Boko Haram soon.
I really do hope it's not too late though...cos I don't know why we had to wait this long to ask for international help
DeleteYou know this is the first time i've actually watched this, i've just been seeing stuff on social media. I mean it's funny but it's not. Sorry Toke's voice is now disturbing me. Yes Dame Peshe.
ReplyDeleteShe's been in office long enough to have brushed up on her english, appearance, everything, but she has just refused. Also when people talk about her being a graduate, fact is the average Nigerian graduate is just the same, sad but that's where we are. she just doesn't have any excuse because she has everything at her disposal to improve on herself and if she's a serious person should understand that it's her duty to represent the country decently.
Also in typical Nigerian fashion, instead of address the issue at hand she's saying "diarris God" Oh we don't know there is God? Thank you for informing us madam but is that why we are here?
Ugggghhhh.
Sting.. your post is apt!
ReplyDeleteNutty J's comments and your response are nicely put i must add as well. One thing that strikes me on the whole thing is that the woman really may not realize she has a gap/issue/challenge that needs to be addressed. Officials around her may also not be able to point this out because of the Nigerian syndrome! I believe in some parts of the world, government officials may be schooled on the modus operandi of these positions but i doubt that works here!!!