Talking about errors as enumerated by NL fans, I think our AP did his best. As rightly pointed our, the most important thing is communicating, being heard and understood which we all attested to. Let believe his communication experts have noted the few errors. Generally, I want to say AP Goodluck J. did us proud.

majority of NLers wont cease to amaze me. I cant believe educated people, as i'm made to believe, are down playing the importance of speaking well, that is communicating in fluent and impecable English. All this talk about us not being the owners of English language is nothing but rubbish. English is our official language so you've just got to be good at it.
It is important for Mr Johnathan to speak well cos it affects us as a people and especially at a time we're tryin to rebrand

On any other day i will not even contribute to this thread but let me give my 2 cents, i think the poster and some people replying here are not in naija hence they do not understand d problem of d common naija man(which does not include how one speaks english, who cares?). I think u guys are either too comfortable and lack what to do or are only being mischievous. You call this constructive criticism, then u do not know what criticism is suppose to achieve. how does this(ur criticism) solve our problems in naija?. Who cares about diction as long as he moves the country forward. We living in d country do not care how he pronounces words as far we have constant power and general improvement in d well being of d average nigerians. hissssssssssss

STOPOVER,

I noticed you had the nerve to comment on my own grammar even though you are clearly an illiterate.

Here's a couple of recent post in Nairaland from you:

A man choose a woman based on the way she makes him feel. The number of years dating has nothing to do with it. A man can marry a woman after 3weeks of dating in my own case it was just 9months my level changed to wify!

Honestly speaking, marriage is not by force even if u got pregent and have a child for him. On the other hand, he feels your not the one he would like to spend the rest of his life with or didnt see u as the woman that will make his life better.  So pls check urself, be honest with urself and move on to find your happiness instead of waitng for him to tell u face to face that hes not gonna marry u.

Move on babe and evisage for the future!

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The problem of finding fault is easy, but that of doing better is difficult!

I sorry for the poster.
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I will try and remain polite but your spelling and grammar leaves a lot to be desired.

To be more specific and accurate your English is woeful!

And for that reason I will not take you seriously.

You are not qualified to advise me on the English language - Trust me!

Wake up guys! English is not our language. Infact he should have spooken Ijaw

Better free your minds from this colonial thinking

Animal no fit teach me sense

Acidosis,

TO: SON OF GOD & BEAF

Are u 'guyz' comparing me with a PhD. holder?

The fact is that, our a.g president lacks oral composition.
He reacted like someone suffering from minor halitosis.

(Halitosis: bad breath)

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Would you use such words in an interview?

You suffer from jargonitus - the inability to speak without using jargon;

You also appear to have mild schizophrenia -  a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality

Both are incurable - so maybe you should Shut Up rather than talk crap constantly.

It would also be wise if you get the spelling of my 'alias' correct.

Before you end up attracting a curse to yourself!

@JAKUMO: Uninterrupted power supply? In Nigeria? Which part? Certainly not Lagos, Abuja, Calabar, Uyo or Kaduna. Your Nigeria must be located in outer space indeed! The day I get up to 8 hours of uninterrupted power supply in my house, I'd sure fix a special thanksgiving service! Not today; not in our lifetime. You bet!

sinistyle:

majority of NLers wont cease to amaze me. I cant believe educated people, as i'm made to believe, are down playing the importance of speaking well, that is communicating in fluent and impecable English. All this talk about us not being the owners of English language is nothing but rubbish. English is our official language so you've just got to be good at it.
It is important for Mr Johnathan to speak well cos it affects us as a people and especially at a time we're tryin to rebrand

This is one of the silliest things I've heard in my life. How does spoken English deliver services and good governance? How?
People amaze me! Talk of misplaced priorities!

Which do you prefer? Electricity 24/7 and measurable performance or impeccable English spiced with zero action and primitive interjections from Boko Haram?

abegi - this over spirited defense of Johnathan is too much haba! - because hes your kinsman - if it was that gworo chewing cbn governor whose english had issues we know what you'd be saying

oyb:

abegi - this over spirited defense of Johnathan is too much haba! - because hes your kinsman - if it was that gworo chewing cbn governor whose english had issues we know what you'd be saying

If you are talking to me, Jonathan is NOT my kinsman or from my ethnic group. . . Or are you really taking sides for narrow minded tribalistic reasons? Tribalists are usually quick to perceive "tribalism" were none exists.

Acidosis:

TO: SON OF GOD & BEAF

Are [size=14pt]u 'guyz' [/size] comparing me with a PhD. holder?

The fact is that, our a.g president lacks oral composition.
He reacted like someone suffering from minor halitosis.

(Halitosis: bad breath)

No, I never compared you to a PhD, that would be a really grave error!
What I said is that; your writing is like the communication of a halfwit, therefore you have no grounds on which to condemn someone elses diction.

@BEAF:
I'm not half-witted, you know. I'm only trying to correct your insanity.

N.B: it's wrong to write half-wit as halfwit.

[size=14pt]"Actions speak louder than Words?"[/size]

This is a valid point.

However we can see from previous posts that issues such as the apparent improvement in the supply of electricity are highly disputable.

Also, who really should take the credit for such improvements? Are these improvements down to Jonathan or one of his predecessors?

Jonathan has limited time to make his mark. So there is little or no time to radically change Nigeria for the better.

And we would all agree that to have electricity for 24hrs a day in Nigeria would be a radical change.

At least from the interview he gave we all can guage and form opinions from what we witnessed and the words he spoke.

If Jonathan can master the art of speech, he stands more of a chance in 2011 of convincing Nigerians and the world he is the best person to lead the country!

so long as he delivers, no qualms. but y not overlook his weaknessess and prais ehis strenght?

AHH MOBUCH,
WOO NGYOLITUO DEE.KI BANGIFAA BEE SHAAA DEEE
MR TOO MUCH GRAMMER

Acidosis:

@BEAF:
I'm not half-witted, you know. I'm only trying to correct your insanity.

N.B: it's wrong to write half-wit as halfwit.

I'm not the one suffering from the inferiority complex thats ailling you guys so much that you prefer impeccable English to good governance. Twerp.
Talk of misplaced priorities and brains gone wrong!

Goodluck Jonathan is a Nigerian. Ask him to speak his native language and he will do that perfectly.
I dont care how he speaks because i dont see Tony Blair or Brown speaking Ijaw.

@Son of G**

Don't be stupid!
We are talking about our acting president. So why are you promoting your disorders.

Jonathan Speaks with an accent so What? For u dullards out there even americans, australians everybody speaks with an accent it all depends from whose point of view,

In Nigeria we dont have one accent abeg, a proper igbo man reared in the east would have an igbo accent when speaking english. so would be a youruba and hausa person reared in the west or North respectively,

Jonathan is an Ijaw man so make im come dey speak PHONE' (Phonetics)?

Dumb modasuckers/// Mr president carry go

Our country can only come out of the woods when and only if we hold leadership accountable and demand that the best hands steer the ship of state! It's no surprise though that most posters on this thread feel no qualms about the personality of our leaders so long as they can deliver electricity (which they haven't any way). Given a scenario where an organization has to hire someone for the role of Managing Director, I guess such a person would be expected to possess excellent communication skills, among other NECESSARY abilities. Now, supposing we are running Nigeria Incorporated (and of course, that's what it is), the minimum requirement of our leader MUST include excellent communication skills, team-building flair, excellent management acumen, ability to think "outside-the-box", among many others. In other climes, leaders are made to pass through the crucible of public scrutiny during campaigning for elections. That avails the electorate the opportunity to 'hire' the most competent hands during elections. That process of election is akin to attending a job-interview for employment in the conventional corporate setting.  Sadly however, WE the people of Nigeria have NEVER really had a say in determining WHO should LEAD us at every turn of event. It is either some ragtag military neophyte with fuzzy and spurious antecent shoots to the top of leadership through the "barrel of a gun" and declares himself "military President", or some corrupt electoral umpire with "wuruwuru" credentials cook up figures in the millions to "declare" another set of imbeciles with equally fuzzy backgrounds "elected" to serve as President and Vice. Little wonder then that the quality of everything including leadership in our dear country has been on the downward spiral in the last 40 years, yet we the people remain docile and indifferent and sometimes, downrightly silly collaborators in our collective defilement! Yes, when your votes are stolen to elect someone who cannot hold a candle to you, to rule over you while you clap and dance the macabre dance of a despoiled victim, you are defiled and you lose your voice to even cry!.  You lose every sense of being human for humans were made to be free, to decide what is best for them, to harness their environment in prosperity and to be lead only by those they chose.  Our voices were stolen in 1999, 2003 and 2007. AND, if we don't stand up and reclaim our stolen voices come 2011, we shall continue to delude ourselves in self-pity while Amanpour and her "accomplises" continue to expose us for what we are: A vibrant people, ruled over by minions and half-baked cowardly ex-Generals!

@ beaf
speaking good English and delivering good governance are not mutually exclusive. I would love a charismatic president that would command the respect of the international community. Infact, if we have this, 1/8 of our image problem is solved. CNN is a far reaching tv network and people will definitely make positive or negative inferences based on how a nation's number 1 citizen presents himself.

@poster-- u get issues, out of over 15 questions that he was asked you can't deliberate on 1. na grammatical errors u dey notice, bad belle!!

though, his composure was not very good cos he was obviously nervous and made it show on his expressions, he couldn't look straight in her eyes but he gave good answers to all the question. i give him 70/100,
afterall, english is not our language,

@ poster wat has grammar or accent got 2 do with delievering,is it grammar dt wl save us from d present situation we find ourselves in ds country,English language or grammar is not one of d prerequisites or standard 4 ruling us in Nigeria and i havent seen or heard that there is a section of d constitution dt says d president or deputy must twist his tongue so as to speak like an American or British,he is simply proudly naija.Did all d grammar yaradua spoke show us where he is now?

WATCH OUT: CHRIS OKOTIE '2011 (The master of all grammarians)

Poster what do you want to achieve with this thread? Im sure if you are in his position you will do the same, our president was only becareful of what to say so that people like you will not come to NL and start criticising him.

Change is here to stay so make e pepper una flesh,

People complaining about Jonathans accent are just like thos white secret KKK members for America who are so scared of change (black president) that they are forming militias and tea party groups saying they are condemning the government in reality they miss the days of white president

Samething in Nigeria, change has come now we dont have to hear the same yoruba and hausa accent, same leaders from the same region nor their cultural dress all the time but we can appreciate and incorporate other peoples dresses and accents tooo,

But no people are scared of the change and are caling this bonafide ijaw man bush for dressing the way he does and speaks the way he speaks, CHANGE IS HERE TO STAY SO BETTER GET ON THE PROGRAM,

babsmii:

@poster-- u get issues, out of over 15 questions that he was asked you can't deliberate on 1. na grammatical errors u dey notice,  bad belle!!

though, his composure was not very good cos he was obviously nervous and made it show on his expressions,  he couldn't look straight in her eyes but he gave good answers to all the question. i give him 70/100,
afterall, english is not our language,

@ babsmii

Mr young man without issues, English is our language okay, so get that into your head, maybe you are one of those who find it difficult speaking impeccable English.
let me tell you something, I am a complete Igbo man, and I am yet to get  the kind of education which our Acting President has, neither  have I gotten  the kind of exposure he has, but mark my words, I grew up in Nigeria and schooled mainly in the east, yet my English is impeccable and is spoken without any primitive accent.  Any white man that listens to my accent here, gets this impression that Nigerians have very good English speaking accents.

We should try and do the right thing, if there is a part of our culture/life and native accent which is faulty, I think we should do away with it, and if there is a part of the western life/ culture which is faulty, then We should reject it and accept the good ones.

our president was only becareful of what to say so that people like you will not come to NL and start criticising him.

Now, that is original  GRAMMAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

.

This is a kind of guy that will go for interview and be speaking" I wanna and I gonna" thinking he is speaking english, Men what has grammer got to do with bringing somebody like you from darkness and poverty, moving the country forward, Men u r JOBLESS

This topic could go on without end with both sides putting forward different arguments but let us ponder to ask who in history had ever satisfied mankind even our lord Jesus could not hence GJ will not satisfy everybody.
Even if he had spoken good and perfect english people will still find faults. If GJ starts performing dudes will still find faults, anyways i know it is in human nature to always FIND faults. Peace.

sinistyle:

@ beaf
speaking good English and delivering good governance are not mutually exclusive. I would love a charismatic president that would command the respect of the international community. Infact, if we have this, 1/8 of our image problem is solved. CNN is a far reaching tv network and people will definitely make positive or negative inferences based on how a nation's number 1 citizen presents himself.

I am sorry, they are. Speaking good English doesn't make a leader wiser, work harder or deliver services better. That's as plain as ABC.

Our image problems do not stem from spoken English (that's laughable really). We have an image problem from drug pushing in the 90's, 419, blatant corruption, govt vying with Boko Haram for the most primitive displays of violence, wickedness to strangers and fellow nationals, mind boggling incompetence, wretchedness were we should have plenty, lawlessness, loudness, ill manners, zero social amenities, no electricity, no potable water, the highest paid politicians in the World, Mutallab etc etc etc.

English is the last of our problems. Damn! It isn't even a problem!