Education
Common errors in English Language you and your teacher don’t notice
The major effect of this mother tongue interference in the use of English that is tagged Nigerianism, in this context,is that it makes us Nigerians deviate from the Standard British English and makes most our sentences ungrammatical or even meaningless.
One of the aspects of Nigerianism in the use of English is REDUNDANCY.Redundancy is an unnecessary repetition in sentence constructions.
Some examples are:
Reverse back instead of reverse
Rise up for prayer instead of Rise for prayer
Raise up your hand instead of Raise your hand
Voice out instead of voice
The examples are obvious as the redundant words can be easily identified even by students in the secondary school level.
However,there are some other ones that are used for interactions and we do not often accept them as cases of redundancy.
I have heard QUACK DOCTOR even in Nigerian movies.
A quack is someone who pretends to be a doctor.The word “doctor” is redundant as quack can only be used to imply a fake doctor.
The expressions MEDICAL DOCTOR &MEDICAL CHECK-UP are both cases of redundancy as the word medical is redundant in the two phrases.
Check-up is a general medical examination that a doctor or a dentist gives someone to make sure the person is healthy.
Another aspect of redundancy is GET UP.People tend to say,
I got up very late from the bed.
Get up means to get out of the bed after sleeping.It is obvious that saying,
I got up at 7am,refers to the bed.
It is just like telling someone this,
You frowned your face yesterday.
We all know that only the face can be frowned in the body.
Say,
You frowned yesterday.
What about this?
I waved my hand to the soldiers.
Wave means to raise one’s arm and move one’s hand from side to side in order to make someone notice one.
The appropriate expression should be:
I waved to the soldiers
Other aspects of redundancy will be revisited in the subsequent editions.
Another interesting aspect of Nigerianism occurs in meaning.There are lots of deviations from the original meanings of some words due to our usages in Nigeria.
We shall examine the following words:
Gist
Go slow
Buckle up
Catwalk
Gist is often used as a verb in expressions like
We gisted yesterday
We are gisting
We want to gist
Let’s gist
The four examples are grammatically incorrect.There are no expressions as GISTED, GISTING&TO GIST.
The word GIST only exists,for now,as a NOUN.
Gist,usually written as THE GIST,is the main idea and meaning of what someone has said or written.
You can say,
“Don’t worry about the details as long as you get the gist of it.
Also,you can say,
The gist of his argument is trustworthiness.
Another that has been given another meaning is GO -SLOW.
Go-slow is used today in relation to traffic.
Go-slow,however,is a protest against an employer in which the workers work as slowly as possible.
This means that go-slow occurs when there is a slowdown.It has nothing to do with TRAFFIC.
Traffic jam or hold up is the appropriate word.
Buckle up is often used to tell someone to be more serious.
A student can be told
You have to buckle up so as to do well in your examination.
Buckle up means to fasten your seat belt in a car,aircraft etc.
To tell someone to work harder,use the expression
Buckle down or Buck up
Catwalk is another word that is affected by Nigerianism.
You must have heard these:
Stop catwalking
She catwalked throughout yesterday.
The two sentences are incorrect.Do you know that catwalk is not a style of walk?
Catwalk is a long raised structure that MODELS walk along in a fashion show.
You can say,
The models walk majestically on the catwalk.
Apart from the words that have been given another meaning,do you know also that there are some expressions that are used today but do not exist in the Standard British English?
The following expressions are examples
Complimentary card
Sufferness
Quit notice
Deep freezer
Iced block
There is no such name as complimentary card. The appropriate word is BUSINESS CARD.
Sufferness is also common.Although it is peculiar to the low level users of the language.The appropriate word is SUFFERING.
Quit notice, if interpreted on the surface,implies quit the notice.
The appropriate word to use notice to quit.
Say,
The landlord issued a notice to quit the house.
Don’t say,
Deep freezer.
This name does not exist in English.The appropriate word is DEEP FREEZE/FREEZER.
The next expression is known nationwide.You might have seen this:
ICED BLOCK SOLD HERE.
Hmmmmmm.When we say “iced water”,it means that the water is iced.
For iced block,the block is never iced.
The appropriate expression is,
BLOCK OF ICE
you are respected when you speak and write well.Develop your use of English as it adds values to your various professions.
Moshood Abimbola Alabi
Stylisticians English Language School
14,Iwaya Road,Yaba,Lagos.
Tel:08033336265,08085044111
Education
GIRAU INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, MILLENNIUM CITY KADUNA, OPENS ADMISSION FOR THE 2025/2026 ACADEMIC SESSION
*GIRAU INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, MILLENNIUM CITY KADUNA, OPENS ADMISSION FOR THE 2025/2026 ACADEMIC SESSION
Girau International School (GIS), a premier educational institution located in the heart of Millennium City, Kaduna, has officially announced the commencement of admissions for the forthcoming academic year. The school invites applications for its comprehensive educational streams: *Early Years, Primary, Secondary, and Islamiyya*.
Renowned for its unwavering commitment to academic excellence and holistic development, GIS stands as a beacon of learning in Northern Nigeria. The institution is built on a foundational philosophy dedicated to providing *world-class education* that meets international standards while being firmly rooted in positive cultural and moral values.
The school’s mission extends beyond conventional academics. With a dedicated focus on *nurturing young minds and shaping future leaders* of tomorrow, GIS employs a curated blend of innovative teaching methodologies, a blended curriculum, and state-of-the-art facilities. The environment is meticulously designed to ensure that every student excels *academically, socially, and morally*, preparing them to thrive in a dynamic global landscape.
*A CAPACITY FOR EXCELLENCE*
GIS boasts significant capacity to deliver on its promises:
* *Modern Infrastructure:* The campus features purpose-built, technologically integrated classrooms, advanced science and computer laboratories, expansive sports facilities, and dedicated learning spaces for creative and performing arts.
* *Qualified Faculty:* The school employs a team of highly trained, experienced, and passionate educators who are specialists in child-centered and participatory learning.
* *Blended Curriculum:* The academic programme seamlessly integrates the Nigerian/British curriculum ensuring international best practices, complemented by a strong emphasis on character building, leadership skills, and Islamic ethical teachings in its Islamiyya section.
* *Secure and Conducive Environment:* Situated within the serene and secure Millennium City layout, the school provides a safe, inclusive, and stimulating atmosphere ideal for learning and personal growth.
Prospective parents and guardians seeking an educational partnership that prioritizes excellence, discipline, and comprehensive development for their wards are encouraged to secure a place.
Admission forms are available at the school’s administration office. Early application is advised due to limited vacancies across all classes.
Education
NIGERIA’S EDUCATION STRIDES, GLOBAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT: When Evidence Travels from Jigawa
NIGERIA’S EDUCATION STRIDES, GLOBAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT: When Evidence Travels from Jigawa
…as President Tinubu set to commission Africa’s largest schools complex in Lagos
By O’tega Ogra
There is a quiet shift happening in Nigeria’s education system. You will not find it in speeches neither will you find it in long policy documents. But if you look closely, you will see it in something far more difficult to dismiss. Evidence.
Last week in San Francisco, at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference, data from classrooms in Jigawa State was presented before a global audience. Not projections. Not estimates. A record of what is happening inside a public system in Nigeria. 
That distinction matters. For years, much of what the world has understood about education in countries like ours has been assembled from a distance. National averages. Modelled estimates and reports written long after the fact. What was presented this time came from within. Attendance tracked daily. Teachers reassigned based on need. Classrooms observed as they function. All under a digitalised ecosystem.
In Jigawa, under the JigawaUNITE foundational learning digital programme, the numbers tell a simple story. Within roughly 150 days of implementation which commenced at the end of 2024, 95 previously understaffed schools were fully staffed. Pupil teacher ratio moved from 114:1 to 70:1. Daily attendance rose from 39 per cent to 77 per cent. This remarkable improvement was not achieved by expanding the workforce. It came from reorganising what already existed under a digital umbrella.
There is something instructive in that. Nigeria has never lacked policy. What we have often lacked is the discipline of execution. The ability to take what already exists and make it work as intended. That is where the real shift is beginning to show.
But it would be too convenient to reduce this to one programme.
At the federal level, the direction has also been adjusting. The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has placed measurable outcomes, foundational learning, and teacher quality back at the centre of policy. UBEC, the Federal Government’s Universal Basic Education body, continues to drive national interventions around school improvement and teacher development, even as it insists that reform must remain system-led and not fragmented.
The First Lady’s education interventions, through the Renewed Hope Initiative, have reinforced education as a national priority, particularly around access, learning materials, and inclusion. These are different levers, but they are part of the same ecosystem.
And then there is the fiscal reality.
Recent reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have increased allocations to subnational governments, creating more room for states to act. In a federation like Nigeria, that matters. Because education is not delivered from Abuja. It is delivered in states. In schools. In classrooms.
What Jigawa has done is to use that room and the Executive Governor of the state, the State Universal Basic Education Board, and their partners on the JigawaUNITE project, New Globe, must be given kudos.
However, Jigawa is not alone in this journey.
In Kwara, efforts to align teaching with actual learning levels are beginning to correct a structural mismatch in classrooms. In Lagos and Edo, structured pedagogy and closer monitoring are improving consistency in teaching. Across the entire ecosystem, state governments, federal institutions like UBEC, and delivery partners like NewGlobe are pushing at the same question from different angles.
How do children actually learn better?
In a prior reflection, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, VP at NewGlobe, captured the urgency clearly. With the right tools, training, and use of data, foundational learning outcomes can improve at scale. The real risk, she noted, is delay, allowing learning gaps to become permanent.
That warning should not be ignored because the context remains difficult. Nigeria still carries one of the largest out of school populations in the world. Learning gaps remain. Progress in one state does not resolve a national challenge, but it does something else.
It proves that movement is possible.
What was presented in Washington did not claim success. It demonstrated function. It showed that a Nigerian sub-national can generate evidence that holds up in a global room. That reform does not always require something new. Sometimes it requires using what already exists more honestly and more efficiently.
The real question now is whether this remains an exception.
Or whether it becomes a pattern.
Because reform at scale is never built on isolated wins. It is built on systems that can reproduce them.
And perhaps that is why the timing matters.
This week, another subnational, Lagos State, is expected to commission the Tolu Schools Complex in Ajegunle, a sprawling 36-school integrated facility spread across 11.7 hectares, designed to serve over 20,000 students, and described as the largest school community in Africa. 
There is a connection here that should not be missed.
On one hand, a classroom system in Jigawa is learning how to organise itself better. On the other, a state like Lagos is building the physical scale required to carry thousands of learners at once.
One is structure. The other is capacity.
Real progress sits where both meet because education reform is not only about what we build, it is about how well what we build actually works.
For once, the data was not explaining Nigeria from the outside.
It was coming from within.
And it carried weight.
Education
FAB Luxury Court Sets A Rare Benchmark For Excellence In Africa
FAB Luxury Court Sets A Rare Benchmark For Excellence In Africa
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