Multilingualism and the National Language Question: From the Position of the Government in Nigeria
Keywords:
Multilingualism, National Language Question, languagesAbstract
From the Position of the government in Nigeria, this study evaluates multilingualism and the National Language Question. Nigeria is a country harbouring many nations. Nigeria's multifarious problems arise from its complexity bordering on religion, ethnicism, culture and politics. Nigeria is a multilingual country but nobody knows how many languages it has. The "minority" languages and those who speak them are looked down upon and discriminated against. Language therefore becomes a major source of conflict and violence. Government seems to shy away from this burning situation and consequently pays lip service on language matters. This paper calls on Nigerians to be conscious of the advantages we may reap from our peculiar multilingual circumstances. We have a lot of cultural potential to tap provided we are ready to explore and invest in our multilingualism. The government should appreciate our multilingualism as a veritable asset and discourage efforts to suppress our vernaculars.
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