Sample 1: “A personnel of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has been arrested by police operatives attached to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command for possessing assorted firearms and ammunition.” (Police Arrest Immigration Officer with Assorted Firearms in Abuja, Opera News, 13 February, 2025)
The word that interests us is personnel which occurs in the following context: “a personnel of the Nigerian Immigration Service.” It is remarkable that a single person (an Immigration Officer, a choice correctly made in the headline) is referred to as personnel. The point has been made repeatedly in this place that a single person does not and cannot constitute personnel. Personnel, let us note, are a body or group of workers in an organisation. To repeat, it is a misnomer to refer to a single person as personnel. This word sometimes presents problems for some users. It will be necessary, therefore, to pay some attention to it.
As a collective noun, the word personnel can neither be pluralised nor modified with the word a or one. Usage examples: 1) The memo is meant for the attention of all technical personnel. 2) The vehicles are to convey only medical personnel. 3) The organisation has a tradition of training and re-training its personnel. 4) All qualified personnel are to register in the Personnel Department. 5) Only senior personnel are entitled to annual leave with pay. 6) Military personnel are kept in a separate section of the estate. Please, note that the noun personnel cannot become plural by the addition of a final –s.
The principle guiding the usage of personnel is not markedly different from that of staff. Like personnel, the word staff is a collective noun which is not to be used in reference to a single person. It refers to the entire workforce in an organisation. Readers may find the following sentences useful in their effort to master the usage of the word staff: 1) The staff is the single most important force in any establishment. 2) The staff were drawn from various companies in the metropolis. 3) Our staff is an even mix of both male and female workers. 4) All staff are expected to submit their files before the end of the day. 5) All members of staff are trained from time to time. 6) The company has a highly skilled staff. 7) The staff strength has increased by ten. 8) Half of the staff were laid off.
However, when the reference is to the workers in several establishments, then it is proper to add –s to staff. Now consider the following sentences: 1) There is a forum where all the staffs of the various companies in the conglomerate meet. 2) Should the staffs of the companies belonging to the government and those belonging to private entrepreneurs be placed under the same salary scheme? 3) Representatives of staffs from private and public companies are meeting next month. 4) This consulting firm trains staffs of both government and private companies. 5) The staffs of the companies in the rubber industry will be interacting very soon.
The word staffs in each of those sentences refers to bodies or groups of workers in two or more establishments.
Sample 2: “…the position they’ve taken was rooted in their frustration and regrets for been (being) politically alienated and barricaded from the government and seat of power on account of their political sins bothering on insolence, arrogance, disloyalty, and indiscretion.” (El-Rufai, Amaechi, Aregbesola, Fayemi Have no Electoral Value to Unseat Tinubu, Opera News, 10 February, 2025) )
The word whose form and meaning are striking is bothering which occurs in the following context: “political sins bothering on insolence…” This is a strange piece of communication and the strangeness derives from the more than curious use of the lexeme bothering in the context. It is obvious that the reporter has betrayed a failure to differentiate usefully between the lexemes border and bother, a failure emanating from a glaring pronunciation weakness.
This is not the first time we have complained about our public writers’ inability to effectively differentiate between the sound represented in writing as –th and that represented as –d. It is this failure that lies at the heart of their failure to differentiate between border and bother. What is the difference between these words?
The word bother, let us note, has to do with emotional trouble, distress of the soul, anxiety about a person or thing. Please read the following sentences: 1) Many parents are bothered when their children do not seem to be making satisfactory progress in their academic work. 2) The miserable state of power supply in Nigeria should bother any responsible government. 3) I have deliberately refrained from bothering you with my financial challenges. 4) The health condition of the boy has been a source of perpetual bother to the father. 5) The constant clashes between farmers and the Fulani herdsmen are a bother to the state governments concerned.
When we say something borders on another thing, we mean the former is almost the same as the latter, is not completely different from the latter, is as good or as bad as the latter. Let’s read the following sentences: 1) The patient suffers from a delirium that borders on insanity. 2) They live in a financial condition that borders on absolute poverty. 3) After four years in the university, many students still demonstrate a level of competence in the use of English that borders on illiteracy. 4) The conflicts and disagreements between the two countries have degenerated to a level that borders on a state of war. 5) The dubious calculations border on fraud. 6) The frozen relationship between the couple borders on separation or even divorce.
The word border can also be used as a noun: 1) A huge tree marks the border between the two towns. 2) The woman with the issue of blood touched the border of the garment of Jesus. 3) The American president-elect has said he will erect a massive fence on the border between America and Mexico. 4) There is a dispute over the border between the two communities. 5) It is the duty of the Immigration and Police Officers to patrol the borders. 6) Illicit trade usually takes place in border towns. 7) The President has complained that our borders are porous. 8) Illegal immigrants cross the border freely.
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