It is very common in Nigeria for speakers of English language to want to sound British, even when they have not stepped out of their village. It gets worse when some even travel to Dubai for a day or two and return to the country to start faking American or British accents.
Nowadays on radio, On-Air-Personalities (OAP) try to sound American all in the name of broadcasting, which irritate some of their listeners.
One person that has expressed sadness over this is a presenter with Abuja station of Wazobia FM, Grace Ekpo. The OAP in an interview said that faking of accents by OAP is one of the major problems in the industry.
She advised her colleagues to emphasize more on passing their messages in simple sentences rather than trying to sound foreign, where they end up not passing information across to their listeners.
Grace explained that the English language belongs to the British and that there is no way Nigerians can speak the language better than the original owners. “We should stop faking accents and be real. Sometimes we fake this accent so much that people don’t understand us,” Grace pointed out.
Citing an experience with American gospel singer, Donnie McClurkin, the talented presenter disclosed that she conducted the interview with the artiste in pidgin English, which he enjoyed.
According to her, “Let me give you an instance, when I hosted the American gospel singer, Donnie McClurkin, I asked him all the questions in pidgin. He had to listen closely to understand what I was saying, then responded in English.”
“It was challenging for him, but he enjoyed it! He even said it was one of his most exciting experiences on radio. He then went on to our sister station who use English, and he asked them why don’t they use the same language that I used. Not because he was faulting their English, but because that is our thing,” she said.
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I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist
Posted: at 5-11-2014 07:08 AM (10 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Onyibochukwu at 5-11-2014 09:44 AM (10 years ago) (m)
lets not get it all twisted o, where she works that is the standard, every other station must not be wazobia. you can not go to BBC hausa station and start speaking english they will throw you out. that is the reason for varieties when you need broken english tune to wazobia and when you need english tune to cool fm!
Posted: at 5-11-2014 09:44 AM (10 years ago) | Upcoming
Originalsly at 5-11-2014 11:00 AM (10 years ago) (m)
Let's not get it twisted o! She advised her colleagues to speak in simple sentences and stop making the fake foreign accent a priority. The fake accent presenters may impress locals but is most disgusting to the those who know better. What's wrong with speaking correct English with a variety of local accents?...that is natural to the presenters? I agree with her...100%¬
Posted: at 5-11-2014 11:00 AM (10 years ago) | Upcoming
JossyKassy973 at 5-11-2014 04:31 PM (10 years ago) (m)
Quote from: Originalsly on 5-11-2014 11:00 AM
Let's not get it twisted o! She advised her colleagues to speak in simple sentences and stop making the fake foreign accent a priority. The fake accent presenters may impress locals but is most disgusting to the those who know better. What's wrong with speaking correct English with a variety of local accents?...that is natural to the presenters? I agree with her...100%¬
Pls my friend, don't misquote this lady. She is talking of faking accent. What she meant is people should stop twisting their tongues in order to speak like oyibo people. Let me inform you that one can twist his or her tongue to speak pidgin. You can equally speak English without twisting your tongue to sound American or British. Thanks.
Posted: at 5-11-2014 04:31 PM (10 years ago) | Newbie
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