DOCSLIB.ORG

Reflections on Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Reflections on Sections 51 and 91 of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria REFLECTIONS ON SECTIONS 51 AND 91 OF THE 1979 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 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 official language 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 Africa,' 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 West Africa 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, United States 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), Canada, 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 India. In that country there was a move to promote Hindi 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.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development
    Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development. ISSN: 2630-7065 (Print) 2630-7073 (e). Vol. 3 No. 3. 2020 Association for the Promotion of African Studies ENGLISH LANGUAGE: AN IMPERATIVE TOOL FOR ETHNO- LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL UNITY IN NIGERIA Ogunnaike Jimi, Ph.D. Department of English Studies Tai Solarin University of Education Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria [email protected] DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12616.55046 & Adenuga, F. T. Ph.D Department of English Studies Tai Solarin University of Education Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria [email protected] DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12616.55046 Abstract With her more than one hundred and fifty million people, Nigeria is not only densely populated but equally ethnolinguistically and multiculturally diverse in nature. Before the arrival of the British colonialists, Nigeria used to be an homogeneous entity with various indigenous or local languages. The unification of these various entities in 1914 by the British government brought Nigeria together as an homogeneous entity with the name called "Nigeria" having two broad divisions, tagged the Northern and Southern protectorates. The two protectorates were also dominated by three major indigenous languages -Hausa in the North while Igbo and Yoruba were in the Eastern and Western parts of the Southern protectorate respectively. These three major indigenous languages notwithstanding, there are at the moment, more than two hundred and fifty local or indigenous languages spoken all over the nation with their different cultures. Nigeria is being united through the adoption and use of the English language which the European colonialists imposed on her and her people.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Domestic Animals in Northeastern Nigeria
    A history of domestic animals in Northeastern Nigeria Roger M. BLENCH * PREFATORY NOTES Acronyms, toponyms, etc. Throughout this work, “Borna” and “Adamawa” are taken ta refer to geographical regions rather than cunent administrative units within Nigeria. “Central Africa” here refers to the area presently encompas- sed by Chad, Cameroun and Central African Republic. Orthography Since this work is not wrîtten for specialised linguists 1 have adopted some conventions to make the pronunciation of words in Nigerian lan- guages more comprehensible to non-specialists. Spellings are in no way “simplified”, however. Spellings car-rbe phonemic (where the langua- ge has been analysed in depth), phonetic (where the form given is the surface form recorded in fieldwork) or orthographie (taken from ear- lier sources with inexplicit rules of transcription). The following table gives the forms used here and their PA equivalents: This Work Other Orthographie IPA 11989) j ch tî 4 d3 zl 13 hl, SI Q Words extracted from French sources have been normalised to make comparison easier. * Anthropologue, African Studies Cenfer, Universify of Cambridge 15, Willis Road, Cambridge CB7 ZAQ, Unifed Kingdom. Cah. Sci. hum. 37 (1) 1995 : 787-237 182 Roger BLENCH Tone marks The exact significance of tone-marks varies from one language to ano- ther and 1 have used the conventions of the authors in the case of publi- shed Ianguages. The usual conventions are: High ’ Mid Unmarked Low \ Rising ” Falling A In Afroasiatic languages with vowel length distinctions, only the first vowel of a long vowel if tone-marked. Some 19th Century sources, such as Heinrich Barth, use diacritics to mark stress or length.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstructing Benue-Congo Person Marking II
    Kirill Babaev Russian State University for the Humanities Reconstructing Benue-Congo person marking II This paper is the second and last part of a comparative analysis of person marking systems in Benue-Congo (BC) languages, started in (Babaev 2008, available online for reference). The first part of the paper containing sections 1–2 gave an overview of the linguistic studies on the issue to date and presented a tentative reconstruction of person marking in the Proto- Bantoid language. In the second part of the paper, this work is continued by collecting data from all the other branches of BC and making the first step towards a reconstruction of the Proto-BC system of person marking. Keywords: Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, personal pronouns, comparative research, recon- struction, person marking. The comparative outlook of person marking systems in the language families lying to the west of the Bantoid-speaking area is a challenge. These language stocks (the East BC families of Cross River, Plateau, Kainji and Jukunoid, and the West BC including Edoid, Nupoid, Defoid, Idomoid, Igboid and a few genetically isolated languages of Nigeria) are still far from being sufficiently studied or even described, and the amount of linguistic data for many of them re- mains quite scarce. In comparison with the Bantu family which has enjoyed much attention from comparative linguists within the last decades, there are very few papers researching the other subfamilies of BC from a comparative standpoint. This is especially true for studies in morphology, including person marking. The aim here is therefore to make the very first step towards the comparative analysis and reconstruction of person markers in BC.
    [Show full text]
  • African Language Offerings
    UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AFRICA CENTER African Language Offerings Stimulate your brain with unique African sounds and cultures by learning any of the following languages • Amharic (Ethiopia) • Chichewa (Malawi) • Igbo (Southeastern Nigeria) • Malagasy (Madagascar) • Setswana (Botswana and South Africa) • Sudanese Arabic (Sudan) • Swahili (Tanzania, Kenya, Comoro islands, Rwanda, and Somalia) • Tigrinya (Eritrea and Ethiopia) • Twi (Ghana and Ivory Coast) • Wolof (Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania) • Yoruba (Southwestern Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Sierra Leone) • Zulu (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland and Malawi Fulfill your language requirement Fulfill your minor or major in African Studies Enhance your cultural aptitude with Study Abroad programs in Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa For more information contact the African Language Program Director, Dr. Audrey N. Mbeje: Tel. (215) 898-4299 or email [email protected] Website: http://www.africa.upenn.edu/afl Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship! http://www.africa.upenn.edu/afl/FLAS.htm Africa Center University of Pennsylvania 647 Williams Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104-2615 Phone:(215)898-6971 Language Descriptions: Speakers and Places Amharic —Is the national language of Ethiopia and is spoken by around 12 million people as their mother- tongue and by many more as a second language. Though only one of seventy or so languages spoken in Ethi- opia, Amharic has been the language of the court and the dominant population group in Highland Ethiopia. Amharic belongs to the Semitic family of languages and as such is related to Arabic and Hebrew. Whilst many of the grammatical forms is reminiscent of the latter languages, the sentence structure (syntax) is very different and has more in common with the non-Semitic languages of Ethiopia.
    [Show full text]
  • Print This Article
    International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 4; July 2014 Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia Lexical Variation in Akokoid Fádorò, Jacob Oludare Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Received: 15-02- 2014 Accepted: 01-04- 2014 Published: 01-07- 2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.4p.198 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.4p.198 Abstract Language contact among Akokoid, Yoruboid and Edoid has resulted in extensive borrowing from Yoruboid and Edoid to Akokoid. Thus, the speech forms subsumed under Akokoid exhibit lexical items which are similar to Yoruboid and Edoid. To the best of our knowledge, no other scholarly work has addressed the concept ‘lexical variation in these speech forms, hence, the need for this present effort. Twenty lexical items were carefully selected for analysis in this paper. Data were elicited from 34 informants who are competent speakers of Akokoid. Apart from the linguistic data, these informants, including traditional rulers, supplied us with historical facts about the migration patterns of the progenitors of Akokoid. The historical facts coupled with the linguistic data helped us to arrive at the conclusion that some of the words used in contemporary Akokoid found their way into Akokoid as a result of the contact between Akokoid and their neighbours, Yoruboid and Edoid. Keywords: Akokoid, Language Contact, Lexical Variation, Yoruboid, Edoid 1. Introduction 1.1 The Sociolinguistic Situation in Akokoid As hinted in Fadọrọ $, 2010 & 2012, Akoko is the most linguistically diverse area of Yorùbáland.
    [Show full text]
  • 10 Nigeria: Ethno-Linguistic Competition in the Giant of Africa
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SOAS Research Online 10-Simpson-c10 OUP172-Simpson (Typeset by spi publisher services, Delhi) 172 of 198 August 31, 2007 15:49 10 Nigeria: Ethno-linguistic Competition in the Giant of Africa Andrew Simpson and B. Akíntúndé Oyètádé 10.1 Introduction Nigeria is a country with an immense population of over 140 million, the largest in Africa, and several hundred languages and ethnic groups (over 400 in some estimates, 510 according to Ethnologue 2005), though with no single group being a majority, and the three largest ethnic groups together constituting only approximately half of the country’s total population. Having been formed as a united territory by British colonial forces in 1914, with artificially created borders arbitrarily including certain ethnic groups while dividing others with neighbouring states, Nigeria and its complex ethno- linguistic situation in many ways is a prime representation of the classic set of problems faced by many newly developing states in Africa when decisions of national language policy and planning have to be made, and the potential role of language in nation- building has to be determined. When independence came to Nigeria in 1960, it was agreed that English would be the country’s single official language, and there was little serious support for the possible attempted promotion of any of Nigeria’s indigenous languages into the role of national official language. This chapter considers the socio- political and historical background to the establishment of English as Nigeria’s official language, and the development of the country over the subsequent post-independence era, and asks the following question.
    [Show full text]
  • The Status of the Languages Central Nigeria
    THE STATUS OF THE LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL NIGERIA Paper presented at the Round Table on Language Death in Africa WOCAL, Leipzig, July 29th, 1997 and now published as; R.M. Blench 1998. The status of the languages of Central Nigeria. In: Brenzinger, M. ed. Endangered languages in Africa. 187-206. Köln: Köppe Verlag. Roger Blench Mallam Dendo 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/Answerphone/Fax. 0044-(0)1223-560687 E-mail [email protected] http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger_blench/RBOP.htm Cambridge, 14 September, 2003 1. Introduction 1.1 The Linguistic Geography of the Nigerian Middle Belt Nigeria is the most complex country in Africa, linguistically, and one of the most complex in the world. Crozier & Blench (1992) and the accompanying map has improved our knowledge of the geography of its languages but also reveals that much remains to be done. Confusion about status and nomenclature remains rife and the inaccessibility of many minority languages is an obstacle to research. The first attempts to place the languages of Nigeria into related groups took place in the nineteenth century. Of these, the most important was Koelle (1854), whose extensive wordlists permitted him to recognise the unity of the language groups today called Nupoid, Jukunoid and Edoid among others. Blench (1987) gives a brief history of the development of language classification in relation to Nigeria. Within Nigeria, the area of greatest diversity is the 'Middle Belt', the band of territory stretching across the country between the large language blocs of the semi-arid north and the humid forest along the coast.
    [Show full text]
  • The Marginalisation of Tonga in the Education System in Zimbabwe
    THE MARGINALISATION OF TONGA IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE BY PATRICK NGANDINI UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA NOVEMBER 2016 THE MARGINALISATION OF TONGA IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE BY PATRICK NGANDINI Submitted in accordance with the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY In the subject AFRICAN LANGUAGES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: Professor D. E. Mutasa Co – Promoter: Professor M. L. Mojapelo November 2016 Declaration STUDENT NUMBER: 53259955 I, Patrick Ngandini, declare that THE MARGINALISATION OF TONGA IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE is my own work and that the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. November 2016 Signature Date (PATRICK NGANDINI) i Dedication To my lovely wife Jesca Benza Ngandini, and my four children, Wadzanai Ashley, Rutendo Trish, Masimba and Wedzerai Faith. This thesis is also dedicated to my late father Simon Tsvetai Ngandini and my late mother Emilly Chamwada Maposa Ngandini who were my pillars throughout the painful process of my education. ii List of tables Table 2:1 Continental number of languages .......................................................................... 21 Table 2:2 Linguistic profile of Botswana............................................................................... 35 Table 4:2 Sample of the population ..................................................................................... 108 Table 5:1 Clauses from the Secretary‘s Circular No. 3 of 2002 ..........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Eng 453 Course Title: Language and National
    ENG 453 LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES COURSE CODE: ENG 453 COURSE TITLE: LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ENG 453 LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE GUIDE ENG 453 LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Course Team Prof. Joy C. Eyisi (Developer/Writer) – UNIZIK (08036675274, [email protected]) Dr. Eric Omazu (Co-Writer) – NOUN ([email protected]) Dr. Oby Akaegbobi (Co-Writer) – UNIZIK (Editor) – NOUN Dr. I. Omolara Daniel (Programme Leader) – NOUN (08035984870, [email protected]) Dr. Olufunke Oni (Course Coordinator) – NOUN (08050920085, [email protected]) ENG 453 LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island Lagos. Abuja Annex 245 Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun Street Central Business District Opposite Arewa Suites Abuja. e-mail: [email protected] URL: www.nou.edu.ng National Open University of Nigeria First Printed: ISBN All Rights Reserved Printed by …………………………………. For National Open University of Nigeria ENG 453 LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Table of Contents Introduction ………………………………………………………. Course Aims ……………………………………………………… Course Objectives ……………………………………………….. Working through this Course ……………………………………. Course Materials …………………………………………………. Study Units ………………………………………………………… References ……………………………………………………….. Assignment File …………………………………………………. Tutor Marked Assignments ……………………………………….. Final Examination and Grading ……………………………………
    [Show full text]
  • Syntactic Variation in Nigerian English and Students Achievement in English Language
    IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 21, Issue 7, Ver. V (July. 2016) PP 131-139 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org Syntactic Variation in Nigerian English and Students achievement in english language OBEKA NGOZI OHAKAMIKE Department of Arts and Social ScienceFaculty of EducationEbonyi State University Abstract:-This paper examined the issue of syntactic variation in Nigerian English as it relates to students achievement in English language. Syntactic variation stems from the fact that no two languages are the same. The concept of Nigerian English was discussed. It was observed that when English language is not the mother tongue of the speakers who use it for communicative purpose, another variety is bound to emerge. Nigerian English has been described as being strikingly different from the standard British English variety. Characteristics of the Nigerian English were analyzed viz-a-viz the Standard British English. It was observed to be full of errors and variants. Students‟ achievement in English language over the years has been a cause of concern to not only the students‟ but to the generality of Nigerians. One may blame the failure on the interference of the mother tongue on the target language coupled with the insistence that English language exam should be marked based on the standard British English. Based on the above, one of the recommendations is that English language curriculum should be structured to include areas of syntactic variation in Nigerian English viz- aviz the standard British English. I. INTRODUCTION One of the important functions of English language in Nigeria lies in its use as the language of education.
    [Show full text]
  • Virtual Library
    University of Nigeria Virtual Library Serial No ISBN 978-8046-18-5 Uguru Joy O. Author 1 Author 2 Author 3 A Common Nigerian Language: A Prerequisite for National Title Identity and Development Keywords Description Category Humanities Unit, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Publisher Fulladu Publishing Company, 22 Osadebe St. Ogui New Layout Enugu, Nigeria Publication Date 2003 Signature A Common Nigerian Language (Revised Edition) Joy 0. Uguru A Common Nigerian Language A Prerequisite for National Identity and Development (Revised Edition) Joy Oluchi Uguru Humanities Unit School of General Studies University of Nigeria, Nsukka O Joy Oluchi Uguru 2003 First published 2003 Fr~llucluPublishing Company 22 Osadebe St Ogui New Layout Enupu, Nigeria P.O. Box 954 Nsukka. Nigeria Revised ifr 2008 University ol' Nigeria Press Ltd. Bookshop/Bank Building Complex, UNN Nsukkn. Enugu Stnte , Nigeria All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in il retrieval system, or ~ransmitted.in any form or by my means, electronic, ~nechnnicsl,photocopying, recording, or otherwise. without the pe~rnlssiunol' the copyright owner. ISBN 978-8046- 18-5 Printed in Nigeria Dedication To a United Nigeria Contents Foreword ' . Preface Introduction 1 National Language and Identity National language /official Language National Identity Language Identity Language Identity and national Identity Language, ethnicity and nationalism Language and unity 2 Language as a tool for development Language as Man's Sole Property 3 Multilingualism
    [Show full text]
  • Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics
    Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics PAUL NEWMAN Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics compiled by PAUL NEWMAN 1. INTRODUCTION The Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics (OBCHL), henceforth the ‘biblio’, is an updated, expanded, and corrected edition of the bibliography published some fifteen years ago by Rüdiger Köppe Verlag (Newman 1996). That biblio was built on valuable earlier works including Hair (1967), Newman (1971), Baldi (1977), R. M. Newman (1979), Awde (1988), and Barreteau (1993). The ensuing years have witnessed an outpouring of new publications on Chadic and Hausa, written by scholars from around the globe, thereby creating the need for a new, up-to-date bibliography. Data gathered for this online edition, which was compiled using EndNote, an excellent and easy to use bibliographic database program, have come from my own library and internet searches as well as from a variety of published sources. Particularly valuable have been the reviews of the earlier bibliography, most notably the detailed review article by Baldi (1997), the Hausa and Chadic entries in the annual Bibliographie Linguistique, compiled over the past dozen years by Dr. Joe McIntyre, and the very useful list of publications found regularly in Méga-Tchad. The enormous capacity afforded by the internet to organize and update large-scale reference works such as bibliographies and dictionaries enables us to present this new online bibliography as a searchable, open access publication. This Version-02 is presented in PDF format only. A goal for the future is to make the biblio available in database format as well. 2.
    [Show full text]