THE POLITICS OF ACCENT

THE POLITICS OF ACCENT
                                       By:
                           Nurudeen Dauda
                           October 22, 2022
nurudeendauda24@yahoo.com
nurudeendauda24@gmail.com
nurudeendauda.blogspot.com

"The accents of our presidential candidates are terrible. Peter Obi has the worst of them all. If it was based on accent, I will vote Al-mustapha, but it goes beyond that"---Muhammad Kabina

I quite agree with you that it is beyond just ones "accent". Luckily for us the four major contenders in the presidential election of 2023 as opined by some analysts have held public offices in this fourth republic. Let our judgements for who to vote as electorates be guided by the track-records of these candidates based on the offices they previously held. In my view, we need leaders who based on their track records of achievements have the "ability" to tackle the problems of insecurity, inflation, unemployment and poverty which do not discriminate among Nigerians regardless of our so-called differences. 

On the issue of accent, ninety nine percent of Nigerians do not speak English with the British "accent" which for me is not a problem at all. Not at all! In fact majority of our scholars of English in Nigeria do not speak the British "accent" which is the accent of our colonial masters much less the Non scholars.

 Accent varies not only among the Non-native speakers of English language , but also among the native speakers of the language. For instance, towns located less than 10 miles (16 km) from the city of Manchester (such as Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, and Salford) each have distinct accents, all of which are grouped together under the broader Lancashire accent. 

In English which is our official language, for me there are three important areas at least:(1) Accent; (2) Vocabulary; and (3) Grammar.In my thought, grammar is the most important thing to know not "accent"or "vocabulary". It is apt to state that most Nigerians confuse "vocabulary with "grammar". For instance if someone is fond of using "words" that are not common to most people we often say he is speaking grammar instead of vocabulary. The skills of using words that are not "common" is about the power of vocabulary not grammar. Grammar is the knowledge of the rules of the language. To know the rules of the language is more important than to master the accent of the language.

However, for us to get it right, we must shun voting based on "sentiments" or "emotions" and or "anger" and or "personal gain". The electorates should know the track records of achievements of all politicians canvassing for their votes either as "political office holders" or "public servants" or private sector employees and or as self-employed and grade them accordingly.

May God bless Nigeria!

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