Border community!

SAMPLE 1: “The problem is the effect the case is having on the Osun State judiciary, an effect that is underestimated, badly mismanaged, and is setting a very bad precedence.’’(The Feuding Osun Monarchs,The Nation, January 2017)

Let’s pay attention to the word precedence which occurs in the following context: ‘’setting a very bad precedence.’’ What is the meaning of the word precedence? Is it different in meaning from precedent? The former has been selected in confusion with the latter.

The context has given us an idea of what the reporter intends the word precedence to convey: an action or a decision which, by virtue of being a historical example, could be a basis or an inspiration or a source of encouragement for future decisions or actions; if we did it successfully in the past, what possibly could make it a bad action or decision now ? According to the context, if this particular action or decision is allowed to stand, the current leadership will be enboldened by its success to “just sit down in Abuja and dissolve the state excos.” That is the reporter’s idea of precedence. A wrong idea, please. Or, rather, a wrong word, please.

The word required in the context is not precedence but precedent. The two words look alike but they are clearly semantically different. Let’s illustrate the word precedent in sentences: 1)Granting a loan to a person servicing a previous loan will be creating a bad precedent. 2)The government refused to pay the striking workers because, according to it, it would set a precedent that would be difficult to break from. 3)Citing numerous precedents, the lawyer urged the court to release his client on bail. 4)Even if there is no precedent, the company can set one by paying the hospital bill of its worker who sustained injuries in the course of his duty. 5)Although there is no precedent for releasing the official car to a person going on leave, we will be willing to do it provided you will be willing to cut your leave short as soon as your attention is needed. 6)Without any precedent, the military Head of State just transformed to a civilian president.

As for precedence, it is about priority, order of importance. Now let’s read the following sentences: 1)It is the duty of the Protocol Officer to ensure that dignitaries sit in order precedence. 2)We have come to a time when our higher institutions should give precedence to science and technology.3)It was a show of shame as government officials fight over precdence in public. 4)In our family, education takes precedenceover material possessions. 5)In defending his decision to keep the patient in the hospital, the doctor claims that the patient’s health takes precedence over other matters. 6)Political independence of a nation should take precedence over its economic strength even though politics and economy are inseparable.

At any rate, it should be clear that the appropriate word for the context is precedent.

Sample 2: ‘’He was bleeding profusely and in comatose because the injuries were mainly to his skull.’’(42-Year-Old Policeman Loses Eye, Suffers Brain Damage after Attack by Hoodlums, The Nation, Saturday, November 5, 2016)

The expression that interests us is in comatose which occurs in the following context: “he was…in comatose.’’ The context of its use, particularly the preposition, gives a wrong impression that it is a noun. It seems it is used on the analogy of the word coma: people may be in a coma, yes. But people cannot be in or into comatose because, unlike coma, which is a noun, the word comatose is an adjective.

A person can be in a coma or be comatose: (1) The man has been comatose for two days now. (2) Lying in a comatose state, the patient has been moved to the intensive care unit. (3) Once the brain is comatose, the person is as good as dead. (4) The Doctor has insisted that the man is not dead but comatose. (5) The business has become comatose for lack of funds (6) The association is comatose, needing urgent revival.

Whether it is used in its literal or figurative sense, the word comatose is used always as an adjective. As such we cannot say that a person or business or institution is in/into comatose.

Sample 3:’’A road should be constructed from Whekan (a bother community about 50 minutes away)’’(Tongeji Island: Blessed by Nature, Cursed by Government, The Nation, July 10, 2016)

The expression that concerns us is the noun phrase, a bother community. A bother community? What could that mean? A community that bothers? One that is racked by anxiety? A community peopled by individuals who have no peace because they bother about everything and anything? I have not yet come across any community with such an outlandish trait or name.

Jokes apart, the writer certainly means to say: aborder community. Here, the word bother has been selected in confusion with border. The confusion, the mistaken identity arises from the writer’s limitation in the pronunciation aspect of the language. Many Nigerian users of the language cannot correctly differentiate between the sound which the form –th- represents and that which the letter d represents.

The word bother, let us note, has to do with emotional trouble, distress of the soul, anxiety about a person or thing. Please read the following sentences: 1) Many parents are bothered when their children do not seem to be making satisfactory progress in their academic work. 2) The miserable state of power supply in Nigeria should bother any responsible government. 3) I have deliberately refrained from bothering you with my financial challenges. 4) The health condition of the boy has been a source of perpetual bother to the father. 5) The constant clashes between farmers and the Fulani herdsmen are a bother to the state governments concerned.

When we say something borders on another thing, we mean the former is almost the same as the latter, is not completely different from the latter, is as good or as bad as the latter. Let’s read the following sentences: 1) The patient suffers from a delirium that borders on insanity. 2) They live in a financial condition that borders on absolute poverty. 3) After four years in the university, many students still demonstrate a level of competence in the use of English that borders on illiteracy. 4) The conflicts and disagreements between the two countries have degenerated to a level that borders on a state of war. 5) The dubious calculations border on fraud. 6) The frozen relationship between the couple borders on separation or even divorce.

The word border can also be used as a noun: 1)A huge tree marks the border between the two towns. 2) The woman with the issue of blood touched the border of the garment of Jesus. 3) The American president-elect has said he will erect a massive fence on the border between America and Mexico. 4) There is a dispute over the border between the two communities. 5) It is the duty of the Immigration and Police Officers to patrol the borders. 6) Illicit trade usually takes place in border towns. 7) The President has complained that our borders are porous. 8) Illegal immigrants cross the border freely.

At any rate, the phrase in question should read: aborder community.