[lg policy] colloquium: Multilingualism, language policy and the national language question in Nigeria

[Harold Schiffman]

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Philosophische Fakultät III |
Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften | Seminar für
Afrikawissenschaften | Aktuelles | Afrika-Kolloquium 30.05.
"Multilingualism, language policy and the national language question
in Nigeria"
Afrika-Kolloquium 30.05. "Multilingualism, language policy and the
national language question in Nigeria"
Das Kolloquium findet am Institut für Asien-und Afrikawissenschaften,
10115 Berlin, Invalidenstr. 118, Raum 410, 18:30 Uhr statt. Alle
Interessierten sind herzlich eingeladen!

(PDF)


Gideon Sunday Omachonu

(Nigeria, HU-Berlin)
Multilingualism, language policy and the national language question in Nigeria



Nigeria is known for its extreme linguistic diversity given rise to by
the diversity of ethnic groups that were brought together as a nation
for administrative convenience following the regrouping of African
territories by the colonial powers in the 19th century. Nigeria has
multiplicity of languages whose exact number cannot be given with a
high degree of certainty. For instance, of the approximately 1050
languages in West Africa, about 550 are spoken in Nigeria (Blench
2011), and of the four language phyla in Africa, three are represented
in Nigeria. Against this scenario, the present study addresses three
major sociolinguistic issues on the language situation in Nigeria.
First, it examines the nature of multilingualism in Nigeria and its
effects on the language situation in the country. In addition, it
discusses language policy and the national language question in
Nigeria which is yet to be settled even after fifty years of political
independence. For instance, debates and discussions about choosing a
national language started in the late fifties following the euphoria
which preceded the nation’s independence in 1960 and by the early
1970s, a considerable national awareness on the question of a national
language had been successfully generated and several proposals put
forward. Even at that, those proposals, unfortunately, had remained
mere proposals since then. The study therefore assesses the efforts of
the government in addressing the issues of national language policy
and the national language question in Nigeria since independence. It
argues that Nigeria has no comprehensive and well-planned national
language policy and as a result, lacks viable plan for the development
and use of its indigenous languages. In all, the extreme linguistic
diversity of Nigeria as well as the arguments for and against
multilingualism in Africa notwithstanding, the study maintains that
the nation’s negligence or inability to come up with a comprehensive,
well-articulated and effectively implemented national language policy
even after fifty years of independence has grave consequences for
unity and development in Nigeria.

References: Blench, R. (2011). An atlas of Nigerian languages (3rd
edition). Web version (http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm).
Retrieved 6th May, 2012.

http://iaaw.hu-berlin.de/afrika/aktuelles/afrika-kolloquium-30.05.-multilingualism-language-policy-and-the-national-language-question-in-nigeria

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