```Editors Must Stop Sleeping On Grammar```

Credit: Daily Guide, 28 June, 2017

To err, we believe, is human, and to forgive, divine...but before such errors, as grammatical blunders committed by our media practitioners, are forgiven, we must first punish those guilty of them with as severe a laughter as can be afforded by the very inks used to commit such errors. 

With reference to a publication in one of the most widely patronized newspapers in Ghana, the Daily Guide, captioned 'Shake-up At DVLA', dated June 28, 2017, on page 6 of the paper by our senior and learned colleague Charles Takyi-Boadu, what looks like a grammatical blunder was committed.
In description, in the first paragraph after his introduction to the story as titled, Mr Takyi-Boadu opened the body of the message with the words "In follows...( previous and recent developments at the place (offices of the DVLA)...)" 

I do not wish to make this sound like a question of whether "it follows" was the intended clause before "In follows" was rather used; that is why, I call it a grammatical blunder.
If truly he intended to tell the reading public that in consequence to the 'previous and recent developments' at the offices of the DVLA, a comparison of which indicates a discrepancy between the cost of the contracts awarded and the cost of printing the yet-to-be-introduced license, then I am a thousand per cent certain that the right clause to be used is 'It follows' and not "In follows". Using anything of the sort is a grammatical crime which when taken up from the international court of arbitration could put the offender, his career and reputation behind bars for life.

I put it to my big brother and the Editor-in-chief of the said paper, to make sure as a matter of urgency all the necessary "house chores" are carefully performed before publishing an item for the consumption of the targeted audience. 

These simple tasks must be performed in order to ensure the attainment of one of the key elements of the social responsibilities of every media house, which is to educate the audience. It is known, by learned professionals in the publishing business, that before publishing, all tasks at the editing stage like proof-reading and copy-editing to check for and correct grammatical errors must be duly undertaken by personnel responsible in that department. It is also true that the Queen's birth language, the English Language, is by no means a Ghanaian mother tongue. A greater part of it was borrowed and was later sold to us by the gold coast colonial masters, which we bought in blood and sweat. For this reason, no one person can boast of perfection in utilising this language without such cheap and petty errors. Some concerned citizens, however, demand that those professionals recognised, employed and mandated by the governing bodies of the Ghana Association of Publishers (GAPs) and Ghana's Graphic Communications, perform their duties and responsibilities with diligence. 

In another feature article by Thomas Fosu Jnr. on the same page (page 6) of the nation's Daily Guide, there was an oversight, if I must put it so, in the introduction of the main story captioned "NDC Gave Fertilizers To Party Activists -NPP." Thomas Fosu Jnr. opened the story with "THE MAJORITY New Patriotic (NPP)..." and then went on. I would like to use this medium to tell my big brother that the abbreviation "NPP" neither represents "New Patriotic" in full, nor does "THE MAJORITY New Patriotic", rather New Patriotic Party. That simple. 

I have a "gut feeling" everybody knows this very well but the impatience of some journalists to do more stories for more media houses amidst tight schedules result in such errors of omission as can be seen in the above article by my dear brother. 

Again, in another story on the same page (page 6) of the same paper, the last of all stories on the page, in the ending sentence of 'Case Closed' paragraph under the news article "No Case For Akua Donkor Robbers", another common grammatical error was recorded, (as was written by Jeffery De-Graft Johnson) Here, "IT" was used in a stead of "ITS". This never amazed me much because it is a common mistake back in our elementary school days. It is just that I think it is bad that it appeared in our newspapers, which I hope would receive the right attention due it. 

Flipping back to page 5 of the same paper, moving forward, under "World News", in an article on the two consecutive times Wimbledon Champion "Serena Williams In Pregnancy Shoot" I spotted another oversight. I know Daily Guide would not like to carry that blame for the mere fact that the original writer was Martha Cliff for MailOnline. I still would not shift the blame to Martha directly unless the Editor-in-chief of the Daily Guide would like to tell the reading public that he had no time to glance through the online article he was going to feature in his newspaper. 

Reading the first sentence of the third paragraph which read "Speaking of 'he' career", I felt ashamed at how our celebrated award-winning newspaper like the Daily Guide failed in a simple "copy 'n' paste" exercise. 

It is clear Martha's write-up misled whoever lifted the story from MailOnline and so instead of making the necessary thorough reading before publishing it, he or she must have been scared of an international suit of piracy or plagiarism, should any changes affect the text "as was". I could involve the Editor of MailOnline in this saga of "oversights" but I would first need to sweep my room out clean before I "out with the trash". 

So, let us make the necessary changes by adding the missing "r" to the nude "he" before the sentence in that paragraph of the story can make some real sense. I took the time to check the texts in the original story by Martha Cliff for MailOnline and it was exactly as "carbon-copied" by Daily Guide, Ghana.
Language indeed is dynamic but those of us who spent our last pesewa in acquiring some in hard labor at the basic level of the educational ladder, wish that people like us be well informed as and whenever changes affect some of these words especially when used as clauses and phrases in our sentences.
Only then shall we be able to inform and educate the less privileged to whom the language has been a "fifth landing stage" even fifty years after slavery. 

The dynamism of the language and its usage, in this modern world, make it too tricky to master especially by those professionals in haste. We must never forget the naked fact that every hasty climber suddenly falls. 

I am heretofore calling on all writers and users (of English language) concerned to exercise patience especially when the task at hand is to inform, educate and entertain a certain target group of audience with what we publish. The degree of silly grammatical errors is pretty much entertaining but it's unprofessional on the part of those who are constantly found in the act. A switch of profession could make this less talked-about.

I hope this humble plea will receive the necessary attention and amicable resolution it deserves. Also I hope this would deter the rest of the media houses and their sea of journalists from toeing this same line of grammatical incompetence even with their silos of certificates and qualifications in the publishing profession. 

It must serve as a fore-warning and caution to all publishing houses, especially editors, that even an "editorial oversight" is a crime according to all grammatical codes of conduct in the daily usage of the English language.

God bless our homeland Ghana and make all grammatical blunders committed by our learned colleagues be punished for corrections as and whenever the truth is stripped bare, and its private parts exposed.
"Akpe".

THə CŁƏrk GH.
(A Pressure Group)
(Klikor & Diaspora)