By Jude Ndukwe
I cringed with disbelief when I first saw the trending video of the Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Abuja, embarassingly walking one Veronica Anyim off the altar after the Pastor accused her of giving a false testimony about her successful graduation from the Law Faculty of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN.
The pastor even went further to threaten that “The Lord killeth and maketh alive” those who “Come to stand on the altar to tell lies in the name of testifier.” He went further to emphasise that “Anyone who does that, you do it at your detriment.”
Unfortunately, with the evidence emerging, it was Pastor Enenche who actually lied on the altar when he declared that “When she started that testimony and she is talking Law, I knew there was nothing like Law.” But it has now been proven that “there was something like Law” in the testimony. May the Lord that killeth and maketh alive (borrowing the emphasis of Enenche) have mercy on us all.
Some commentators have weighed in by attempting to further add salt to Sister Veronica Anyim’s injury by claiming that she should have been able to know the proper nomenclature for her Law Degree and or she should have been able to express herself more clearly.
By such interventions, the commentators have only exposed their own ignorance or deliberately chosen to ignore factors that could have given rise to Sister Veronica’s expressions during her testimony.
First, it is important to know that in assimilating languages and expressing them either in speech or in writing, several factors come to play. One of such factor is the use of ‘synecdoche’ where a particular expression is used to express the general. Such terms, when one gets used to them, assume the everyday language and are expressed consciously or unconsciously during conversations.
Unfortunately, everyone, including the native speakers of English, are ‘victims’ of ‘synedoche’. For example, we all know that the use of technology to alter pictures is called ‘photoshop’, hence, we often hear expressions like, “I want to photoshop my pictures,” or, “these pictures have been photoshopped.” Not many know that the word ‘photoshop’ is not an English word but the name of a photo editing software developed by Adobe. But today, the name of that product is now being used to describe the action of photo editing, not only because it is the first of its kind but was the dominant and most popular product before others came on board.
The environment also plays a significant role in the language assimilation and expression of a people. For example, if one grows up in an environment where all First Degrees are referred to as BSc, there is that likelihood that those who grow up in such an environment will refer to all First Degrees as BSc irrespective of whether such Degrees are BEng, BA, BL, LLB, B.Ed, BTech etc. Just like ‘photoshop’, the most popular but not in any way the most important of all these degrees is the BSc. So, it is not unusual that it is the most commonly used.
The use of a particular brand or product to refer to the general class of products is not the exclusive preserve of any particular group of people, whether they be the educated elite or the struggling graduate. For example, till tomorrow, many, including those vilifying Sister Veronica, still refer to detergent as ‘Omo’ so that they could be saying that they want to buy ‘Omo’ when in actual fact, they may be referring to detergent products other than Omo. A child that grows up where he is sent to go and buy Omo when in actual fact the child understands that Omo means any preferred detergent will grow up referring to detergents as Omo irrespective of the brand. It might take some long and deliberate efforts to become precise in such circumstances.
The use of a particular brand as the generic name for products of same function is not limited to detergents. Toothpastes generally are often referred to as ‘Macleans’ or ‘Close Up’ in some environments even when the toothpaste being referred to is one other than the two brands mentioned above. So, it is not strange for a child to be sent to buy ‘Close Up’ and the child returns with ‘Pepsodent’ without any issues raised. It is the same way all noodles are ‘Indomie’ or all insecticides are ‘Flit’ or ‘Shelltox’, or most SUVs are Jeep etc.
Even in the UK, the original owners of English, they make the same expressions. For example, ‘Kleenex’ is used to refer to facial tissues in general even when ‘Kleenex’ is only a brand name of a facial tissue. Another one is ‘Hoover’ for vacuuming products, ‘Vaseline’ for petroleum jelly, Bic for biro, etc.
So, when Sister Veronica mentioned BSc as her Law Degree, one would have thought that the church would show understanding and correct her in love rather than disgrace her in such a manner. She said she was the first graduate in her family. That should say a lot about her background which could have affected her expression. More so, she might not have been used to speaking before such a mammoth crowd and that could also have played a role in the whole scenario.
To talk down on a woman who is probably a wife and a mother like that and chase her down the Isle of obscurity on the day of her limelight is, to say the least, very disheartening. I hope Pastor Paul Enenche makes amends as appropriate and as soon as possible?
Jude Ndukwe sent this piece from Abuja
