Of Being here & Been there!

Been, Being; Their, There; Sit, Seat; Were, Where; Who's, Whose; This, These.
Why do people not realize that each of these has its distinct use and that though they THINK they SOUND alike (and thinking that in itself is a result of poor diction and allocution) they really do not and under NO circumstance are they to be used interchangeably! As a friend who had to interview prospective employees with atrocious grammar and even worse writing skills said "Since when did 'been and being' become identical twins?"
It is a pity that a country that claims English as it's lingua franca is full of people - youths and adults alike - who have become so inept at the use of the language that is the main form of communication among them. Our teachers/educators cannot speak the language properly and they are meant to impart knowledge and form the minds, and speech, of future generations. Our journalists write in a manner that is reminiscent of children of elementary school age who are just beginning to understand the difference in tenses, parts of speech and the use of words. For me, reading a Nigerian newspaper is such a chore and an activity in intellectual torture, for I am a person to whom proper use of grammar, in ANY language, is paramount and I get thoroughly distracted by grammatical errors that abound in articles that should have been masterpieces of journalistic discourse but end up being wonderful examples of bad use of words, tenses and grammar!
"People may say I am been fussy about there use of words; were they ought to use there dictionaries and other tools of word crafting to report news and information to a populace who's knowledge and understanding of the English language in this times is at an all time low. Can they (journalists) not see that it is there supposed superior knowledge and use of the language that should place them up their on the pedestal of word gods, where they seat on gilded thrones?One cannot help but wonder, did the Editors do ANY editing? And if the Editors where to do the editing, would the articles be any different? One has to assume they where not on sit when the articles went to press!!"
How many of us KNOW what is wrong with the foregoing quotation? I sincerely hope that we all do!
I do know that our educational system is gone to the dogs, metaphorically speaking. Our secondary & tertiary institutions are churning out barely literate "graduates" who are hard pressed to properly spell their names; Companies have had to come up with ingenious ways to employ the best of the not-so-good. Our youths can neither speak English fluently nor write it properly. One has to wonder at the teachers and lecturers who had to mark essays written in barely legible grammar - obviously, their grammar is just as awful as that of their students.
The Head of a Customer Service unit in a company in the financial sector was so appalled by the grammar of her staff that she had to give regular English lessons and had the office buy Brighter Grammar for her staff and taught them how to use the Thesaurus, Dictionary & Spell Check functions on their Word applications. A CEO got English books and had staff do regular grammar and use of English test. Yet another person decided her teachers (yep!) needed lessons in the use of English and diction and elocution lessons. Ever wondered why your child says "pepul" instead of "purple"? Trust me, it's NOT the maid/nanny/cook/driver he or she has been listening to!
So, fellow Naijas, what are we going to do? Think about it!

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