SAMPLE I
“Is live theatre really booming in Nigeria?… Life theatre in Nigeria is not alive… They were in the habit of sponsoring life performance every year. If you go round the whole country with life theatre performances, you talk of funding, taking care of all the artistes, their well-fair and so on… What people really need are the kind of life theatres that matter, that appeal to them… If that friction can be removed, we will breath a fresh sigh of relieve” (It’s Twilight on Stage, The Nation, Sunday, 20 March, 2011).
This self-same excerpt which provided the material for analysis last week supplies the information for our discussion today.
We start by examining the status and import of one curious lexeme, an instance of the outflow of the no less queer repertoire of a superbly enlightened writer! The lexeme is well-fair which occurs in the structure, “taking care of all the artistes, their well-fair and so on”. In spite of the fact that the two morphemes making up the hyphenated word come from the English lexicon, and are therefore unmistakably English, the lexical entity, well-fair, lacks identity in the English lexicon.
Its being monstrous, its being a testament to dubious literacy notwithstanding, we are able to secure a lexical identity in the English lexicon to which the curious form owes its creation. The sound and graphic form of the word welfare must have crystallized in our writer’s mind as well-fair.
Is the idea of wellness not involved (wel-), he would reason, and is there not a form of fairness involved (fare)? Strange and interesting sometimes are expressions of illiteracy!
Now, some words need clarification: welfare, fair and fare.
To be sure, the word that has eluded the writer in the context under examination is welfare. The word welfare is about wellbeing, good health or happiness or good financial condition: (1) Your accommodation and transportation will be arranged by the welfare officer. (2) The court is reluctant to dissolve the marriage because of its concern for the welfare of the children. (3) Concerned about the welfare of the civilian population, the Commander of the Rebel Forces prevented his troops from attacking the city. (4) If you were interested in my welfare, you would have requested to know how much I have in my account and how much more I need for the project. (5) The labour leader has alleged that the company is more interested in exploiting the workers than in making provision for their welfare. (6) The Federal Government says it is interested now more than ever before in the welfare of the Nigerian rural population.
Now the word fair. In a sense it is about being just, being impartial, being right, giving people equal opportunity. It is basically an adjective, but can also be used as a noun (fairness) and as an adverb (fairly): (1) It is not fair to discriminate against women in all spheres of life. (2) Citizens from all parts of the country should be given fair opportunities to use their talents. (3) The Conference of Nigerian political parties has alleged that opposition political parties were not fairly treated by INEC during the elections. (4) It is quite obvious that there is no fairness in the distribution and sharing of the Nigerian oil wealth. (5) It is popularly believed that the football match has not been fairly refereed. (6) The students allege that their scripts have not been fairly graded. (7) Nigerians often complain that their leaders are corrupt, insensitive, and have no sense of fair play. (8) We know some people have to be paid before the others, but the order in which the payment is made must be fair, based on seniority and the time of arrival. (9) Nobody has said the man is just or fair, but all of us know that he is quite hardworking and has improved the welfare of staff tremendously since his taking over as MD. (10) There are people who believe that the president won the presidential election fair and square.
The word fair, as a noun, is used in reference to an arrangement in which business organizations display or showcase their products as a way of boosting their sales. (1) As a result of inadequate publicity, not many business organizations participated in the trade fair. (2) Many students from all over the country came to the book fair with the aim of buying prescribed textbooks. (3) Some orthodox doctors believe it is wrong for the government to allow traditional healers to organize a trade fair where they sell medicines of dubious quality to members of the public. (4) The first trade fair, we are told, was organised in this country in the early 50s. (5) Have tobacco companies ever organised a trade fair in any part of the world?
The word fair, as an adjective, can also mean average: (1) The performance of the dance group is just fair, and not excellent as claimed by the leader of the group. (2) The American educational system regards a score of 60% as just fair. (3) How could the assessors have rated this painting as fair? It is more than fair. It is in fact excellent. (4) Fair performances don’t win prizes. Excellent performances do. (5) It is better to regard your own talent as fair, and allow others to rate it possibly higher.
The word fare can be used as a verb: (1) I had initially thought the boy won’t be able to cope with the new class, but I think he’s faring well. (2) The senior team fared badly in the last outing because of lack of adequate preparation. (3) Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity, agriculture has not been faring well. (4) Our party didn’t fare well in the last elections because our political office holders had done nothing to impress the electorate. (5) In spite of the short notice, our representatives fared fairly well in the competition. (6) The carpentry work is fantastic. On the whole, the carpenter hasn’t fared badly. (7) The Nigerian economy seems to have fared well in the last one decade. (8) In spite of the general feeling that Nigerians don’t use English well, I don’t believe that Nigerians fare badly in the use of English.
The word fare is also used as a noun to refer to the money you pay for a vehicle to convey you: (1) The hike in bus fares is due to the recent increase in the pump price of petroleum products. (2) Can the increase in air fares discourage people from opting for air travels? (3) The organisation that invited the professor for the conference will take care of his accommodation, feeding and airfare. (4) Local transporters now insist the fare must be paid before the commencement of the journey. (5) I was lucky to have met in the bus a friend I had not seen for years who decided to pay my fare. (6) The way the government can subsidize bus fares is by subsidizing the pump price of petroleum products and the cost of motor vehicles.
This word can also occur as part of another word – farewell: (1) We all gathered at the graveside to say farewell to our mother who had departed this sinful world. (2) I wasn’t able to attend the party in honour of the member of staff who had been transferred to another branch, but I sent my farewell message through a colleague. (3) The farewell party was well attended, an indication that the retiring manager was quite a popular man. (4) A farewell dinner was organized by the church committee in honour of the pastor who had spent more than forty years serving God and the people. (5) The farewell speech was long and boring, and many people either slept off or left the hall before it ended. (6) The gift will be presented to him at the farewell party.
We have seen the differences between fair and fare and between welfare and the nonsense, non-existent word, well-fair. But can anyone confuse these with fear? At any rate, let us illustrate the use of the word fear: (1) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (2) Overwhelmed by fear of the unknown, the boy committed suicide. (3) The man could not enter the house for fear that the mad boy might attack him. (4) If you have faith, you would not fear any evil. (5) Politicians now fear for their lives in the uncertain political terrain called Nigeria. (6) As they travelled in darkness, they trembled in fear.
What has led us to this discussion is the writer’s choice of the absurd word well-fair. Obviously, we cannot complete the discussion of this extract even this week. By God’s grace, we’ll conclude the discussion next week.
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