REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 51 AND 91 OF THE 1979 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF

SUNDAY BABALOLA AJULO Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021

SECTIONS 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would seem to enscapsulate what could be regarded as the policy1 of the Second Republic which it established. Section 51 stipulates: 'The business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, and in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba..." Viewed against the background of Brann's2 exegesis on West African languages, English in the Nigerian Constitution would pass for an 'exolect', while the three indigenous languages therein mentioned would similarly pass for 'chthonolect'. The four languages in question are conjoined by the word 'and'. That conjunction, with its combinatory effect,3 would suggest that all the four languages are theoretically equal in value. Consequently, they would appear, prima facie, to be equally authentic. Thus, in Brann's sense, Nigeria could be said to have four 'exoglossics'.4 The applicability of the provisions of Section 51 was primarily designed for the defunct National Assembly; by extrapolation, however, it could also be extended to the other corporate bodies in the Federal Public Service, denned in Section 277 (1) of the same Constitution. The provisions in respect of the business languages of the State House of Assembly, similarly defunct, stipulate: 'The business of a House of Assembly shall be conducted in English but the House may, in addition to English, conduct the business of the House in one or more other languages spoken in the State as the House may by resolution approve'.

S. B. Ajulo works in the AFRC/NCS Secretariat in Lagos. The views expressed are personal and do not represent the secretariat. 1. To date, no separate document contains the blueprint on the Nigerian Language Policy. However, certain official documents mention some languages in which official business may be transacted. These include the Nigerian Constitutions from 1951 to 1989; The National Policy on Education, 1977, revised in 1981; and the Cultural Policy for Nigeria (1988). These are discussed by the present writer in a paper titled: 'The Linguistic requirements of the Third Republic' presented at the 10th Congress of the Nigerian Association of Translators and Interpreters, held at the University of Lagos, 13-15 December, 1988. 2. C. M. B. Brann, 'Functions of World Languages in West ,' in West African Journal of Modern Languages 3 (1978), pp. 6-28. 3. R. Quirk etal.,A University Grammar of English (Longman, London: 1975), pp. 254-273. 4. Brann, ibid, but see further C. J. E. Okonkwo & Ibid. pp. 48-56, French, English and Spanish are today acknowledged world languages. See A. A. Mazrui, A World Federation of Cultures (Free Press, New York: 1977), pp. 322-333. The functions of world languages in are discussed by C. M. B. Brann, op. cit. pp. 6-28. The historical evolution of the use of English and French at the International Court of Justice is examined in British Year Book of International Law, 13 (1932), p. 139. 511 512 AFRICAN AFFAIRS The applicability of those provisions could also have been intended not only for the respective State Houses of Assembly but also for the corporate bodies in their respective public services. Four theories are deducible from Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Nigerian Constitution. First, that English, an exolect, should continue to be the business language of the legislative bodies in Nigeria; second, that the chthonolects should be used either when adequate arrangements have been Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 made for them, or when the respective legislative houses have resolved to take that line of action; third, that none of the chthonolects so used might replace the use of the exolect as the primary business language of all the corporate bodies in the entire public life, of Nigeria; and fourth, that the exoglossics in Nigeria consist of one European exolect on the one hand and three chthololects on the other. A discussion of these theories will constitute the focus of the present paper which: (a) examines why corporate bodies insert theoretically a clause on the exoglossics in which they should conduct their official business; (b) reviews the issue of official languages in some selected multilingual federations as background to the evolution of the official languages encapsulated by Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and (c) posits that the translation of official texts from the exolect into chthonolects constitutes a challenge to which the present generation of Nigerian literati should address themselves. Constitutions, charters, treaties, conventions, agreements and contracts are legal instruments which are often written and published in one or more approved authentic languages. The essence of ensuring publication in several languages is, presumably, to reach out to a heterogenous public. Customarily, therefore, the language(s) in which the constitutive instru- ment of a given body is officially published is/are said to be authentic. International organizations embracing countries of diverse tongues offer classic examples, namely the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, the European Community and the Economic Community of West African States. Article 111 of the UN Charter indicates that French, Russian, English, Spanish and Chinese are the authentic languages of that world body. By contrast, Article 19 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice stipulates that the official languages of the Court are French and English. Article 248 of the EEC Treaty, Article 24 (2) of the OAU Charter, and Article 58 of the ECOWAS Treaty contain comparable provisions.5 The discussion of the choice of languages in those bodies is

5. Article 24 (2) of the OAU Charter stipulates. 'The original instrument, done if possible in African languages, in English and French, all texts being equally authentic ...' Article 58 of the ECOWAS Treaty States: 'The official languages of the Community shall be such African languages declared official by the Authority and English and French'. For a discussion of the latter see S. B. Ajulo 'Law, Language ...'Journal of African Law, 29 (1985), pp. 1-24. REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 513 beyond the scope of this paper.6 Be that as it may, it is obvious that the choice of official languages in those organizations was not arbitrary. Multi-lingual countries are like international or supranational organiz- ations where diverse linguistic interests are necessarily catered for. While homogenous and monolingual countries tend to be silent on the language(s)

in which their official domestic business should be conducted (e.g. Great Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 Britain, of America, Germany and France) countries with heterogenous societies tend to state, expresses verbis, the languages in which their official business should be conducted. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (US SR), , Belgium and Switzerland offer classic examples.

Theories on official languages in a federation The issue of official languages in a federation has been the preoccupation of a number of scholars. Wheare,7 in his Federal Government, said that each citizen in a federation is subject to two governments, namely the central and the regional (i.e. the federal and the state). Where the federation is multi- lingual each constituent state should acquire the main languages of the federal government in addition to its own local languages. Basically there- fore, each linguistic community in a federation should promote primarily its own language; but it should also be obliged to learn the official languages of the federal government. Watts8 considered the issue in his book, New Federations, in which he highlighted the explosive situation it created in . In that country there was a move to promote as the official language. However, the issue precipitated acrimonious controversy among the Hindi protagonists and antagonists alike. In Nigeria, the choice of official languages has never really been allowed to come to the fore. This is not to say, of course, that views were (and are) not being expressed thereon. From time to time, the Nigerian dailies9 and weeklies10 carry feature articles on the desirability of adopting one of the Nigerian languages as the official language for the country. However, most of the views expressed thereon would appear to border on 'linguistic nationalism'.11 In the domain of theoretical analysis on Nigerian national affairs, the late Chief Awolowo could be regarded as one of the most prominent figures. The report of the panel appointed in 1975 to examine the possibility of 6. Any participant in the UN General Assembly is presumed to understand any of the UN official languages. Similarly, any Judge of the ICJ is expected to be literate in either French or English or both. 7. K. C. Wheare, Federal Government, (Oxford University Press, London: 1963), pp. 2-41. 8. R. L. Wafts, New Federations, (Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1966), pp. 233-236. 9. (a) Daily Times, Lagos, 1 October 1985; 8 November 1985. (b)Sunday Times, Lagos, 2 November 1986. (c) New Nigerian, Kaduna, 18 and 19 September 1986. (d) Sunday New Nigerian, Kaduna, 11 and 18 September 1988. (c) National Concord, Lagos, 13 July 1988. 10. (a) Hotline, Kaduna, 30 May 1987. (b) West Africa, London, June 29 1987. 11. S.B. Ajulo,N«o Norton, Kaduna, 29-30 November 1988. See also by the same author, 'Law, Language...', pp. 5-6. 514 AFRICAN AFFAIRS creating more states in Nigeria said 'the most pronounced of the creation of states on linguistic basis is Chief Obafemi Awolowo'.12 Indeed, in his auto- biography13 and subsequently in his Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution, Awolowo anticipated the problem of official languages in Nigeria. In the latter book, he argued that if a country is bilingual or multi-lingual and consists of diverse communities or nationalities, that country should adopt a federal constitution. The constituent states of the country should be Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 organized on a linguistic basis. The examples given to illustrate his argu- ment include all the countries already discussed above. He categorically stated that it would never be possible to unite 'peoples whom languages have set distinctly apart from one another'14 On that basis, therefore, he suggested that there should be a United whose constituent states should be organized as linguistic units. In that regard, he proposed 18 states. In June 1966, when the book was published, the Nigerian Federation still consisted of four uneven regions. However, in 1967, at the beginning of the civil disturbances which culminated in the civil war,15 the former concept of regionalism was jettisoned and replaced with smaller administrative units ever since known as 'states'. The country was thus subdivided, first, into 12, subsequently into 19 and lately into 21 states.16 Strictly speaking, the linguistic principle in the sense prescribed by Chief Awolowo might not have been the overriding faaor in determining the creation of states. For instance, the 1975 report on state creation referred to above categorically rejected the creation of 'States on ethnic lines, because of... concern for the stability and unity of the country ... [and because] ethnic homogeneity is no bar to the agitation for the creation of states'.17 However, given the nature of the states ultimately created it would appear that the linguistic factor was also not entirely absent in the minds of the state builders. About ten of the twenty-one states are linguistically homogeneous. Among the criteria adopted for the creation of states were: administrative convenience; the facts of history; the wishes of the people; and geographical contiguity.18 By accident or by design the proximity of the number of states suggested by Chief Awolowo to the number ultimately created by the successive mili- tary administrations corroborates the view that the linguistic factor could have been an added faaor. (It should be recalled that after his release from

12. Creation of more States ...in Nigeria, (Federal Government Press, Lagos, 1975), p. 25. 13. O. Awolowo, Awo, (Cambridge Univeristy Press, Cambridge: 1960), pp. 174-177. 14. O. Awolowo, Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution (Oxford University Press, : 1966), pp. 54-55. 15. See A. H. M. Kirk-Greene, Crisis and Conflicts in Nigeria, Vol. I & II, (Oxford University Press, London:1971). 16. G. Arnold, Modern Nigeria, (Longman, London: 1977). 17. Creation of more States in Nigerta 1975, p. 25. 18. Creation of more States in Nigeria 1975, p. 25. REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 515 prison in 1966, Chief Awolowo was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council.)

Evolution of linguistic culture in Nigeria The attitude of the British government to the development of indigenous Nigerian languages was not, after all, negative. Lugard stated both in his Political Memoranda: Memo 4, and in the Report on the Amalgamation (page Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 162) diat it was the official policy of his government to make Hausa the of the North, except, of course, in Borno, where Kanuri was better known; and in Ilorin, where Yoruba was more prominent. Thus, Lugard did not envisage a monolingual Nigeria. Moreover, he made proficiency in a native language an important qualification for the promotion of his political officers to higher grades in the colonial service. In a later development, Section 114 of the Nigeria (Constitution) Order-in-Council of 1951 recog- nized English as the official language in the Legislative Houses of the Western and the Eastern Regions, while English and Hausa were recognized for the Legislative House of the Northern Region, subject to the supremacy of over Hausa in case of a conflict between texts appearing in both languages. Section 78 of the 1954 Constitution made English the official language, simpliciter. Similarly, Section 54 of the 1960 Consti- tution provides succinctly: 'The business of Parliament shall be conducted in English'. The 1979 Constitution added a new dimension to the existing provisions. While it retained English as die official language, it also pro- vided for the use of Nigerian languages stipulated in Sections 51 and 91 of the Constitution.

Antecedents of Sections 51 and 91 The 1979 Constitution was formulated by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC)19 which proposed in Section 53 as follows: (i) The business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English or such other Nigerian languages as the National Assembly may by resolution decide; (ii) die business of the State Assembly shall be conducted in English and in such other languages spoken in the State as the House of Assembly may by resolution decide. The Constituent Assembly subsequently debated the propositions. The participants gave free rein to African personality. The mood of the nation favoured it. Nigeria was more than ever before conscious of its leadership role in Africa. The new consciousness must have generated a new set of circumstances that found expression in the emphasis placed on the choice of official languages enshrined in the 1979 Constitution, namely Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution. 19. Report of the CDC, Vol. /(Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos: 1976). 516 AFRICAN AFFAIRS

Tower of Babel Linguistically, Nigeria constitutes a veritable Tower of Babel. Conserva- tive estimate puts the number of languages spoken in the country at 250. However, only a handful of these have been reduced to writing.20 Apparently, the CDC was faced with embarras de choix; hence, it could not resolve the choice of the Nigerian languages that should be adopted. It merely emphasized the need to adopt some Nigerian languages in the con- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 duct of national affairs. It passed the buck to the Constituent Assembly, where two schools of opinions crystallized on the issue.21 While some members wanted a Nigerian language to supplant English; others wanted English to remain as the basic medium of communication which should, however, be supplemented by the use of some Nigerian languages. Arguing in favour of the first school, Alhaji Sani Daura contended that Nigeria should evolve a on grounds of 'national self- pride'. He said that it could be either Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa. His argu- ment, however, ignored the political, social and economic implications of adopting any of those languages. For instance, he did not consider whether or not the disparate polities, with variegated cultural and linguistic back- grounds, would readily give up their respective languages in preference to any other Nigerian language. Nor did he appear to consider the dearth of teachers to teach any of the Nigerian languages and the cost of producing them, should a decision in that regard be made. He also did not envisage the legitimacy of imposing one Nigerian language on all . Thus Daura's suggestion could be regarded as a revolutionary statement the implementation of which was likely to give riset o acrimonious controversies. Dr Yusuf canvassed a pragmatic approach. He said that English should be the basic medium of deliberation in view of the multiplicity of languages in Nigeria. However, he noted that the disability of some Nigerians to speak English should not be regarded as a barrier to the membership of the National Assembly. He suggested the introduction of simultaneous trans- lation in the legislative houses. Dr I. Abubakar spoke in a similar vein. The implication of that suggestion was that any Nigerian should be entitled to speak his or her own language in the Legislative House provided an interpreter could be made available to translate into the language which an average member of the House could understand (i.e. English). Be that as it may, the solution to the problem of securing appropriate interpreters and the cost of recruiting, training and maintaining them was not considered. The Supreme Military Council (SMC), then the highest decision-making organ of the nation, ultimately decided the choice of languages for the 1979 Constitution. It combined both the pragmatic and the revolutionary

20. S. B. Ajulo, Nigerian Languages (forthcoming). 21. Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly, Official Report, Vol. I (Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos: 1977), p. 123. REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 517 approaches by striking a golden mean between the two. It took into con- sideration the pragmatic significance of using English as the basic official language, most probably because of its integrative force which ensures mutual understanding among the diverse linguistic groups in the country; and also because it facilitates access to the international community. It is also the only language which all and sundry in the nation could quickly learn Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 with interest and profit. However, the SMC also took cognizance of the patriotic zeal of those desirous of promoting Nigerian indigenous languages as official media of expression, at least for domestic purposes. The decision of the SMC to promote Nigerian languages to the rank of official language should be seen as a radical move. If the constitutional provisions had been promptly translated into administrative measures, the whole exercise could probably have revolutionized learning and teaching in Nigeria. Alas, the initiative of the SMC, as enshrined in Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution remained a dead letter between 1979 and 1989. To substantiate that assertion it is necessary to essay a brief critique of the implementation of Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution. Given the fact that the 1979 Constitution came into force more than a decade ago, it is now pertinent to assess how far the provisions of Sections 51 and 91 of the Constitution were implemented. To all intents and purposes, English remained unchallenged in its pre-eminence as the basic business language of all the three tiers of government as stipulated in the 1979 Consti- tution. Although the study of local languages in all Nigerian institutions of learning has since witnessed a considerable boost, the effects thereof on government agencies, particularly the legislative houses was negligible. Any attempt to analyse the reasons for that state of affairs would be beyond the scope of this paper. Suffice it to say that in the period under review only the government-owned electronic media houses in the country effectively harnessed the local languages in their broadcasting services. The radio and television houses in Nigeria transmit not only in English but also in the relevant local languages. For instance, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria transmits in English and twelve Nigerian languages. These are: Hausa, Kanuri, Fulfulde and Nupe in Kaduna zone; Yoruba, Edo, Igala, Urhobo in Ibadan zone; Igbo, Izon, Efik, Tiv in Enugu zone. Each state radio/TV station transmits in the local languages, apart from English. Be that as it may, it is evident that there is a deficit in the implementation of Sections 51 and 91 of the Constitution. Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were not accorded co-ordinate position as Nigerian official languages. Practically all the public services in the federation retained English as the sole medium of communication and expression; nor was there any visible plan to sup- plement the use of English with Nigerian languages. Mirabile dictu: the very Constitution which provided for the use of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba 518 AFRICAN AFFAIRS was not even translated into the three languages specified in Section 51 of the 1979 Constitution. Nor did any state, by virtue of Section 91, translate the Constitution into any of its indigenous languages. The pre-occupation with English remained unabated to the detriment of promoting Nigerian languages as official means of expression in national fora. One could, there- fore, justifiably say that the constitutional imperative aimed at forging a new Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 Nigerian personality through the use of Nigerian languages was not matched with commensurate administrative measures. The late Obarogie Ohonbamu observed in his thought-provoking book The Psychology of the Nigerian Revolution, 'Though we have found it easy to decolonize our country we have found it difficult to decolonize our minds. Political independence is a farce when the people of this country are still intellectually dependent. To decolonize our minds:... we need researches into all aspects of Nigerian life and culture, so that we can ... contribute respectively to world knowledge ... [and] convince ourselves and the world that Nigeria ... has got something to offer'.22 That observation is still valid today, almost three decades after attaining national independence. That the 1979 was not translated into the Nigerian languages specified in its Section 51 could be regarded as a wasted opportunity to decolonize Nigerian minds. The Nigerian intelligentsia should not have sat on the fence but accepted the unique challenge offered by Sections 51 and 91 of the Constitution. It is a truism that a language can best be developed only by the native speakers; and that is why the Nigerian literati should still pick up the gauntlet. It would be tantamount to promoting the cause of democracy if the Nigerian Constitution, Gazettes, Government White Papers, etc., were translated into as many local languages as possible. Such a course of action would lead to the unfolding of the inestimable innate potentialities of Nigerians in the linguistic field. Moreover, such a venture, if vigorously and purposefully embarked upon could generate employment opportunities for Nigerians all over the country. All the three tiers of government would therefore require official translators in the relevant languages. In order that their translations would be deemed authentic, the translators should be well trained and accorded due recognition in the public service. That is the standard practice in modern multi-lingual federations. In passing it should be noted that the international community appreciates the significance of Nigerian languages. For instance, the BBC, Voice of America, Deutche Welle, Radio Moscow, among other Broadcasting organ- izations, broadcast news daily in Hausa. It is interesting to note that Hausa is one of the African languages into which the UNESCO History of Africa is being translated. If the international community has been promoting

22. O. Ohumbamu, The Psychology of Nigerian Revolution, (Stockwell, Devon: 1969), p. 188. REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 519 Nigerian languages, it therefore behoves Nigerians themselves to take full responsibility for the development of their languages.

Prospects Preparations are under way to build the Third Republic on the ashes of the second. Steps towards the gradual evolution of the Third Republic are Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 contained in the Government's Views and Comments on the Findings and Recommendations of the Political Bureau^ set up by president Babangida on 13 January 1986. Annexed to that document, is the Time-Table for the Political Programme, designed for the ultimate transition from the military to civil rule. A Constitution Review Committee, (CRC) to review the 1979 Constitution was established. The CRC submitted its report which was debated by the Constituent Assembly (CA). The report of the CA was in turn examined and suitably amended by the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) before it emerged as the new Nigerian Constitution on 3rd May, 1989.24 The Report of the Political Bureau and the Government views thereon as well as the draft Revised Constitution are instructive in so far as they fore- shadowed the nature of the Constitution for the Third Republic. The three documents touched on the issue of national languages. It is, there- fore, pertinent to examine briefly their contributions to the central issue discussed in the paper.

Report of the political bureau The issue of national languages was treated in paragraphs 10075-10080 of the report submitted by the Political Bureau, which took proper congnizance of the multi-lingual nature of the Nigerian society. Prior to the report, the Bureau had considered memoranda from the Nigerian public, inter alia, on Nigerian languages.25 The main recommendations emanating therefrom were summarized as follows: (i) Nigeria should adopt Hausa as the National Language; (ii) adopt Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba as National Languages; (iii) retain English as a National Language; (iv) adopt any of the languages spoken in the minority groups; (v) adopt a neutral 'NIGUA' to be developed from the major and minority languages of the country; (vi) adopt a Pan-African language like Ki-swahili;

23. Government Views and Comments on the Political Bureau, (Lagos: Federal Government Press, 1987). 24. Decree No. 12 1989, See Official Gazette, No. 29, Vol. 76,3rd May, 1989. 25. The writer presented a memorandum on the issue to the Constituent Assembly, see New Nigerian, Kaduna, 29-30 November 1988. 520 AFRICAN AFFAIRS (vii) use 'the mother tongue' for educational institutions at the primary school level in the States.26 The Bureau observed that neither English, nor Ki-swahili should be adopted as Nigeria's national language. Rather, it endorsed the view that the three major languages—Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba should be adopted as national languages. In effect it reconfirmed the validity of the stipulations Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 of Sections 51 and 92 of the 1979 Constitution. The Bureau recommended that Government should adopt a policy that would encourage or even require all Federal Career Officers to be fairly fluent in at least one of the national languages, other than the one predominant in their respective areas; the media houses should encourage WAZOBIA27 programmes and newspapers should be printed in the three national languages. In paragraph 274 of the White Paper on the report, Government accepted the recommendations in toto; but pointed out that the teaching of Hausa, l£bo and Yoruba was 'already in practice in consonance with the current National Policy on Education'.28 In the latter document Government highlighted the importance of language in the educational process as a means of promoting national culture in the interest of national unity. To that effect it endorsed the recommendation that each Nigerian child should learn, apart from his or her own mother tongue, one of the three major Nigerian languages, namely Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The report of the Constitution Review Committee left in tact the pro- visions of Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution. They are repro- duced under Sections 53 and 96 of the new Draft Constitution. Although some members challenged the legitimacy of imposing Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, on the rest of the nation (others even walked out in protest), the Constituent Assembly did not propose any changes to those sections. Given its pre- vious decision on the issue as stated in paragraph 274 of the White Paper on the report of the Political Bureau, the AFRC affirmed its previous stance on the issue. Thus, the re-emergence of the provisions of Sections 51 and 91 of the 1989 Constitution.

Concluding observations From the foregoing analysis it can be concluded that Nigeria is a multi- lingual federation which in principle has constitutionally attempted to forge a liberal language policy aimed at promoting three of its national languages, namely Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba to the rank of official languages. On the basis of that policy, Nigeria may be said to have partially embraced one of the cardinal canons of multilingual and multi-cultural federalism, typified by 26. Report of the Political Bureau, Vol. 2 (Federal Government Press, Lagos: 1987), pp. 449-454. 27. WAZOBIA is a composite word coined from the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba vocabulary for the English verb 'to come': 'Wa' (Yoruba), 'Zo' (Hausa) and 'Bia' (Igbo). 28. Government Views. REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 521 Canada and Switzerland from which a lot could be learnt as regards the theory and practice of multilingualism. The provisions of Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution suggest that English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are co-ordinate official languages of the Nigerian Federal Government. However, the operation of the Consti- tution revealed that English retained its pre-eminence as the basic official language of all the organs of the Nigerian Government at all levels. Thus, Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 all the four theories enunciated in the introductory part of this paper would seem to be vindicated. It should, however, be noted that the 1989 Consti- tution has similarly retained English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba as official languages of Nigeria. It now remains to be seen if the new Constitution will be published in those languages. In that regard it is submitted that publication should be ensured not only in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba but also in as many Nigerian languages29 as possible. Such a move would respond to the aspiration of the protagonists of Nigerian languages and would constitute a decisive step towards the decolonization of the Nigerian mind. But that might not necessarily imply that Nigerians would discard the use of English. Initially, and indeed for a long time to come, English should be a source language for the literary and terminological enrichment of Nigerian languages. It should be recalled that Latin was the only language which the Europeans once used for administration, law, and academic study. European nationalism over the years produced European nation states, each with its own national language(s). The provisions of Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution as well as those of its successor could probably lay the constitutional foundation for the ultimate freedom of Nigerian languages from English. If legal and administrative instruments were published in Nigerian languages, then the Nigerian lawyers and administrators should be expected to acquire a working knowledge of as many Nigerian languages as possible. To that effect, it might be administratively rewarding and politically expedient to make the study of a set of Nigerian languages compulsory for prospective Nigerian lawyers and public servants. The law faculties and law schools, the institutes of administration including the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), the Military and Policy Academies and allied institutions should embrace in their curricula courses on Nigerian languages. A Nigerian Chief Magistrate once challenged the continued use of English in Nigerian courts where litigants were mostly illiterates. He said 'I wonder why we must not speak our language in courts ... why English?

29. It is noteworthy that the constitutions and manifestos of the two political parties that would operate the 1989 Constitution are being translated into the local languages. That might be an indication that the 1989 Constitution will be similarly translated. 522 AFRICAN AFFAIRS Whom do we want to impress? The English people?'30 That magistrate was probably speaking the minds of millions of fellow Nigerians. The way out of the current linguistic dilemma might be to train interpreters in Nigerian languages. Thus, the challenge faced by contemporary Nigerians is to set in motion the administrative mechanism to implement the provisions of the language clauses of the 1979 and 1989 Constitutions. The translation of the Bible and the Koran already into an appreciable Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/89/357/511/77800 by guest on 27 September 2021 number of Nigerian languages suggests that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and any legal or administrative document for that matter could equally be translated into Nigerian languages. The weight of the argument in here suggests that that would not be a novelty. All told, 'Is there anything whereof it may be said, see this is new? It had been already of old time, which was before us'.31 That biblical saying summarizes the cardinal message of this paper. From the dawn of human history, multilingualism has plagued the world. In biblical context, it began with the episode of the Tower of Babel, as recorded in Genesis, Chapter 11, Verses 1-9. Mankind has since lived and coped with multi- lingualism in the world. It probably decisively began with the translation of the Holy Bible from Hebrew and Greek into the contemporary languages of the world. Other valuable works containing a universal message are regularly translated from their source to target languages. Modern poli- ties, especially multilingual federations the world over have accepted that axiomatic solution to their linguistic problem. Thus, through translation and interpretation a given polity can communicate the laws, decrees, direc- tives and regulations made by the federal (central) government to the grass- roots level of governance. That universal truism is implicit in Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 and Sections 53 and 95 of the 1989 Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Sooner or later the Nigerian experience will follow suit. The process of literate civilization which began in Nigeria around the Christian and Muslim missions32 may one day be carried to its logical conclusion as it was in Europe. 30. O. A. Adeyerai, 'A day in the Criminal Court', The Nigerian Magistrate and the Offender, T. O. Elias (ed.) (Ethiope Publishing Corporation, Benin City: 1972), p. 27. 31. Ecclesiastes, Ch. 1, verse 10. 32. J. F. A. Ajayi Christian Missions in Nigeria, (London: Longmans, 1965), pp. 126-30. According to the Bible Society of Nigeria at Apapa, the Bible has been translated into the following Nigerian languages: Efik, Yoruba, Igbo, Egun, Hausa, Nupe, Ijo, Tiv, Kana, Igala, Urhobo and Isoko. The New Testament has been translated into about 33 Nigerian languages including those enumerated above.