S
till on the index of forbidden
expressions, we have this
popular statement that the
writer easily falls for, ‘Stake-
holders’ when attempting to explain a
group of people with common interest
or that share something in common. It
could either be a community of people
or individuals who aspire for the same
goal, project or programme. The fact
that the ‘stakeholders’ expression has
gain so much popularity it has become
too cheap and rendered it redundant, so
try and avoid ‘stakeholders’ and look for
a better replacement and sound alluring.
Just to serve as a reminder here are
some of the forbidden expressions
that often present themselves at the
thought of putting pen on paper about
events and occurrences as they break at
regular intervals around the world for
the journalist and reporter to transmit
to the listening and reading publics.
The check list; enabling environment,
face the wrath of the law, Nigerians in
the Diaspora, role model, NGO-(Non
Governmental Organizations,) giant of
Africa, sensitize and people-oriented.
Some of them I have dealt with earlier
in our English lesson.
Our focus for the week is the
‘stakeholders’ phrase which as I stated
before has become stale and no longer
command the respect as it should be
because it has come in contact with
several people. It’s now too weak to
create positive impact, instead it bores.
Have it in mind that there are better
synonyms that should be preferred. It
is up to the writer, journalist, reporter
and indeed user of the language to
explore the vast alternatives at his or
her disposal. How would one go about
searching for a good functional phrase
and blot out ‘stakeholders’ or speak
less of it? The answer is not farfetched.
I recommend you turn to a standard
reference material such as the English
dictionary, though it may guide you
but would not provide the solution, or
better still use the English thesaurus
or any other credible source to look
for the synonym of the word ‘stake-
holders.’
So, where are the synonyms that
would replace the worn out phrase
‘stakeholders’? If I may asks. There are
plenty of them that would make one
sound fresher and hold the reader or
listener and keep him or her reading
and listening because of the different
angle you have provided away from
the monotonous ‘stakeholders’ expres-
sion that no longer excites the reading
publics.
Here are a few of the statements that
could conveniently take the place of
‘stakeholders.’ Though it may also
have fallen into the category of the
index of forbidden expressions yet one
can make do with for now, ‘interest
group,’ ‘concerned persons’ among
other straight to the point phrases that
would still drive home the message
one intends to push out to the audi-
ences. For example, rather than over
flog ‘stakeholders’ as it’s often the case
when we attempt to report or write
about group ownership of a business
or project one can simply write or
report, engaging the ‘interest group’
and ‘concerned persons’ expressions,
“The Principal of Mount Zion college,
Mr. Stanley Asipa has called on all con-
cerned persons to pull together their
resources to ensure the early comple-
tion of the college project.”
Similarly, one can also employ the
‘interest group’ phrase to subdue or
temporally suspend the ‘stakeholders’
expression. It would be correct to
report that “Interest groups are worried
about the recurring incident of pipeline
explosions that has claimed many lives
in the country, including the recent one
at Abule Ado, Amuwo Odofin Council
Area of Lagos State that reportedly left
no fewer than fifteen students and the
Principal of the school dead.”
No doubt there are unlimited ways
the language can be navigated to
make us sound fresher without bor-
ing the reader or listener. Recycling of
popular phrases such as ‘stakeholders’
without going for something different
at least to break the monotony smacks
of mental laziness. What the journal-
ist and reporter should aim at is to
shun commonly used expressions and
instead look for a suitable alternative
that can equally match or even better
over spent words. That way the writer
would sound better and capable
of holding down his readers and
listeners.