INTRODUCTION
Multilingualism is the use of more than two languages by an individual speaker or a society. It refers to the situation of linguistic pluralism within a single polity. Nigeria, India, and Switzerland are examples of multilingual nations.
It is important to note that there are two types of multilingualism. They are symmetrical and asymmetrical multilingualism. In symmetrical multilingualism,
In symmetrical multilingualism,
all the languages are given equal status. That is, no language is higher in status than another. For instance, in Switzerland, French, German and Italia are equal in status.
In asymmetrical multilingualism, at least one of the languages has a higher status than any other one. This can be seen in Nigeria where the English language is more prominent than other languages.
THE MULTILINGUAL NATURE OF NIGERIA
Indisputably, Nigeria is a multilingual country. Although the number of indigenous languages in Nigeria is yet to be ascertained, it is assumed that there are about four hundred indigenous languages in Nigeria. In addition to these indigenous languages, there are also three popular exoglossic languages: English, French, and Arabic. Again, Pidgin also exists. To worsen the situation, the indigenous languages have various dialects, some of which lack mutual intelligibility.
Out of the numerous indigenous languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are constitutionally referred to as “major languages”. The three major languages can be regarded as regional lingua francas: Hausa in the North, Igbo in the East and Yoruba in the West. However, the recognition of these three languages as the major languages does not go down well with speakers of other languages (the minority languages) for the fear of being marginalised socially, economically and politically.
As mentioned earlier, Pidgin also exists in Nigeria and it fares well in commercial contexts and it is spoken in informal situations. It also serves as a lingua franca among Southern minorities and also widely used in Cosmopolitan cities like Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Abuja et.c for obvious reasons.
The multilingual situation of Nigeria has some implications for language planning, language choice, language acquisition and use. The major reason for this is because there is no indigenous language that cuts across regional boundaries. The choice of language as a national language, therefore, becomes difficult as no ethnic group would want its language and culture relegated.
The ENGLISH language thereby becomes the primary beneficiary of the situation as it is being used as a national language.
The situation seems to make the Nigeria government, linguists and other stakeholders complacent – they do not seem to feel the necessity or the urgency for having a truly national language in the country. Hence, all government pronouncements with respect to language policies still remain mere political statements.
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