University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No ISSN: 1119-3458

Author 1 NWOKOLO, Basil O.

Author 2 Author 3

Title

Nigeria’s Language Policy and National Unity an Evaluative

Approach Keywords

Description

Nigeria’s Language Policy and National Unity an Evaluative

Approach

Category School of General Studies

Publisher Arts and Social Sciences Forum Journal

Publication Date August, 1999

Signature

NIGERIA'S LANGUAGE POLICY AND NA'I'IONAL UNI'I'Y: AN EVALUATIVE APPROACI.1

- 13;tsil 0. Nwokolo -

Sclio1:irs Ii;i\,c righlly csl;iblisliccl tkit l;i~iguagc prcscrirs ii vi1:11 I'orcc Sor I\)s~cl.ing I I : I I ~ O I I ; I I i~~lcp,r;itiol~. unity ; I I I ~ dcvclop~~~c~~l . This iiccou~~ts Ibr llic coliilllittctl cll'orts dtfircnt cor~nlrics ~iiiikc lo 1'0rniulii1c ;111d in~plcnic~it vigor~m ;IIIO gwl- oriclltcd 1;111gu;1gc policics. 111 view of tl~c rcl;~tionsl~ip bctwce~l 1;111g11iigc i i l d I I I ~ I I \ ;i~ld ~ C V C ~ O I ) I I ~ C I I I . tlic plpcr, first, C ~ I ~ : ~ ~ O ~ I I C S ~ I I C obvio~is ~ I I ~ C S C S 01' dis~iuily i l l ~ d

rcrrogrcssio~i. ;111tl rlic~i ;ISSCSSCS tlic I;i~ig~iiigc policy of Nigcr~a. Tl~c i~sscss~~~c~i l rc\,c;ils lion tlic Iiingi~i~gc policy col~~ributcs to nnlio~~al dis~~lilty. c1Ii1i1~ co~iscio~~s~icss a11d rctrogrcssio~i i l l cd~~ciilio~i. Tlic Ixipcr C O I I C ~ I I ~ C S I)\ rccon~~~icntling str;~tcgics t11;iI call bc pursued i ~ i ordcr to ;i~ncliorilte tl~c S ~ ~ I I ~ I ~ I O I I .

INTRODUCTION Natiolial wity and dcvclopiic~it 11wc bccn vcscd issited in Nigeria SIIICC 1icr pol~tic;iI i~idclx~iilc~icc.

Indicators of tlisun~t>. have been galorc in tlic country. For csamplc, the first rcpubllc \\.it~~csscd pol~lical partlcs tliat \vcrc based OII cthnic I~ncs. Tllcsc partics pro~iiotcd ctluiic tntcrcsts to tlic d c t r ~ ~ ~ ~ c ~ i t ~ I ' ~ C I I I I I I I C national u ~ i i t > , . T l ~ c Nzcognu-led C O I I ~ camc i n 1966, and was followed by social d~sturballccs 11131 led lo

the massacre ol' tlic easterners i n tlic ~ io r t l~ . The bittcrilcss gc~icratcd i n the wake of the ~ i~ass ;~c~ ,cs rcsitltcil i l l tlic secession of the cast and tlic c \ ~ e ~ i ~ t ~ a I tl~irty-~iiontli bloody civil war. Since at'tcr tlic \\ irr. sllcccssr\ c Federal governments sl~o\\;crl 110 gc1111i1ic coml~ii t~~ic~it to national integration and itnit!*. Ka~lics. ~)olicics nillied :it f'a\!ouring so~iic sections to the tlisndva~~tagc of others were dclibcrntcly csccutcd. Also tllcrc \\;is tlic aba~ido~icil p r q w t y saga ill \\+ich the Fcclcral (iovcrilnicnt was the protagoliist. I'I~crc I1;ivc I)cc~i also cases ol' clli~ilc-b:isctl i~itcr-coli~l~iut~ity bloody col~llicts, and religious riots ill \vhicll pcol)lc I'ro111 so~iic ctl~nic gl-otrps aud their property \\.ere rnlgcts. 'rliis ugly siti~ation has, conscrlucntl?~. at'ILctct1 i lc\clol)~iic~~~. cspccially ill education. As ~ ~ c o p l c Occai~ic discncl~n~ltcd a d alicnntcil, p;~trlotlsni a11iI ~ia l~o~l ; \ l co~iscio~~s~icss wcrc sapped and many intlividuals see tlic na t io~~ as a place to plul~clcr. 'lhc rccklcss pluntlc~~ has broug111 111c cco~ioni!' to its knees and devastated tlic el~tirc school systcni, \\;host rcspo~~s~b~l~r! . 11 IS to pcrpcti~;ttc tllc valucs and ideals of Nigerian Society.

The root of the Causes of disunit>r and rctrogrcssion lies dccp in etl~nic li~iguistic dill'crcliccs. Nigeria IS

n multilingual gco-political c~itit!~ \\,liere each ctli~iic linguistic group co~iscior~sl!~ prokcts 11s idcl~l~t!.. Mcniorics ot' past cvcl~ts in t11c counlr!, have conti~iucd to makc liiutual distrust sll;~rp E~ii~csihc ( I W7:3.5) agrccs tli;it "cthn~c, ciilt~~ral m d li~iguistic diffcrcticc arc possible divisive torccs that call 11iil1~1tc against nat~onal unity mid natiol~rd coliscious~icss". Crystal (I 987:34) also obscrvcs'tJint tlicrc is " a tciiilcric\ fur I;uiguagc to act as n nati~ral bnrrlcr bct\vccn cultuml groups, proliiotlng co~illlct r.;ltlic~. rIi;111 CO-

opcratlon ......" I Ic goes filrtllcr to state that sucli conflicts rcsi~lting from crlinic dif'crcliccs "arc olicrl I ) I N C I . and violent". In vie\\! of tlic tbrcgoirig, vis-a-vis the fact that Nigeria has about 400 cl~str~ict 111ip1st1c groups. i t is ~iot surprising that pcrt'cct nl~ity liad been diffic~~lt to achieve since itldcpc~iilc~~~c. 1

I Si~icc language has pro\ul a vital force \\.it11 dual capacity to either foster niitiotial i~itcg~xtiori a~iil devclopnicnt or c~igcndcr national ilisintcgration, national govcrn11icnts cscrcisc a peat dc;il 01 1

circu~iislxc~iori in tlcaling \\.it11 laliguagc prol)lcli~s, cspccially in the planning and csccutioli 0 1 ' la~iguagc ; policics. Nigerian govcn~~i~clit. too llatl 11iadc sotlic et'forts to guidc laiiguagc cducatio~i a d tlic use 01 ! In~~gilagc in the conduct of tlic business of govcr t~~~icl~t . Since language policy is our nlaijor colicc1.11. 111c scsl ; of the paper \ \ i l l bc all attcliipt to i~ndcrstand tlic concept of language policy and to cvali~otc N~scsi;l's [ lnngw~gc ~)olic!~. will1 n vicw to dctcrmiriiny how tllc policy has promoted citlicr national unit\. or ~ I S ~ I I I I ! . .

' I

I

TIIE CONCEPT O F LANGUAGE POLICY Crystal (p. 365) has pointed out that language has proved to be ''a tllor~l in the tlcsli of all nllo

govern. \vl~ctllcr at national or local level." and that "different social groups wisli to scc tlicir lingu~stil: idcrititics a d il~tcrcsts ~naintnilicd. and Inny actively - and oftcli violently - caliipalgll tbr rccognitio~~" I lc filrtlicr observes that govcrn~nclits react to t h e linguistic differences cithcr ol'licinll>, or u~~ol'lic~all\. Wlictlicr the renctlon is official or not. lilaliy governnlcnts try to resolve tl~cir Iaoguagc prohlc~ils b!. conscious1 mid carcfirlly designing lang~~agc policy that will lead to tlic "linguistic c~~ginccririg" of' tlicir lint ions.

"l'olicy", as clcliriccl by tllc OxCorcl Advnnced Leal-~rer's dictio~rrwy of crrrl-cat E~rglislr 1s a .'pl;ul ol action. statement of nirns mid idcals cspccidly one made by a governmelit. political ~);I I - I>. . h s i ~ ~ c s s conlpnli>., ctc." Language policy will. tlicrcforc, Incan. in broad tcniis. official s tatc~~~cli ts 011 I I O U t l ~ c dil'fc.rcnt Ia~iguagcs of'a col~ritry sllould be used aad studied. Specifically, a lal~guagc polic! slioulcl co~lccl-11 itsclf \\.it11 the li)llo\vi~~g: idcntilication of' t l~c natioaal and official language of' ;I cou~itry. tlic pli~losol)li\. u~idcrlyi~ig t11c sttidy of Inngungc. goals to be achicvcd, the bounds and co~irc~irs 01' the c11rr1cul11111. cvaluatio~~ of progress ill the natiollal In~~guagc, tcacllcr education and supply, ~ ~ i s t r ~ ~ c t ~ o n ; d 11latcr1;ds. Iaaguagc tcacliing priliciplcs and ~~icthods. ctc. Crystal (1). 366) points out tliat "o~ic of the most 1111porrunt ways ill n.liicli a coutitry's Ialiguagc policy nlanifests itsclf is in the kind of provts~or~ ~t riiahcs fix the linguistic cducatio~i of cliildrc~i. Wliicli ln~igilagcs and language varieties arc to be taught i n scliools. f1.0111 ~vllat age. and !'or how long?"

A tnucli nlorc broad tcnn t l l n l ~ "lnngt~i~gc policy?' is language pla~ini~ig". L.n~igi~;~gc p l ; i ~ i ~ ~ i ~ ~ g goes beyond mnki~~g sptcitic statemelits to c~iibracc the complex proccss of clioosi~ig nn obscure la~iguagc atid developing it to the staticlard it can serve both national aud internatio~ial licccl of tlic c o l l ~ ~ t p . Tliis process has four srngcs of opcrotlo~i. as Crystal has pointed out. The first stage involvcs tlic sclcct~on of' o~lc la~~guagc out of otlicr clig~blc I n ~ ~ g ~ ~ a g c s . Thc second stagc involvcs the codificnt~ori ol'tl~c sclccrcrl I ; I I I ~ I I ; I S C by devising ill1 nll)liabct, togctlicr with spelling, pu~ict~lation, pronu~ic~atioli wit1 g ra~~~tnar~ca l ~.ulcs 'l 'l~c third stagc i~ivolvcs rlic proccss ol' r~iodcrnization ill n.llich among otlicr things. "principles liavc to be ngrccd Ibr t l~c introducti&~ ol'ric\\, tcl-111s". 'She last stage is tlic iniplc~ilc~itntio~~ sr;~gc. This involves using the sta~idard variety of' tlic I;i~ig~~agc in olticial govcr~~rlicnt publicatio~is, scliools atid the ~nctlia. At tlils stagc. tlic Ianguagc "will bc associated with educational progress and social status".

A good csa~nplc of In~iguagc pla~i~iiiig is tlic Chincsc language Pln~uii~ig. Cryslal described i t as "the no st n~iibitio~~s" Inliguagc progralnliic "cvcr conceived". Tlic main features of tlic 1)rogl.ariililc arc tlic "provision ol-i a Kornanizcd alpliabct (Pin-yin) atid the promotion of a coninloll spohcri Iri~lguagc. .. , putonghun. to providc n rncnrls of conirnun~cation bctwccn the various rcgio~ial I ~ I I ~ L I ; I ~ C S . I'lic S L I C ~ ~ S S 01 tlic Clii~icsc Ialigungc progrnlimc is n direct result of conlniitmcnt to nnt~or~d dcvclopnicnr and dctcrminatioli to succeed. Every lintion has a language policy, with clitt'crcnt lcvcls of' success 111 tllc i~i~planclitat ion. Nigeria. like otllcr nat ions of the world, has beer1 imple~ilenting sotile I;rngu:~gc ~)oli+. 7'111s policy \ \ i l l bc csn~ni~icd ~lcs t .

NIGERIA'S LANGUAGE POLICY It is still being coritcstccl wlictlicr or liot Nigcria has n national languagc polic!.. For U;itlcjo ( ILM7.JX).

"Nigeria lins no Nntiollal Langungc Policy per sc". Hc believes that what is Ii;1ppci1i11g is tIi;it "SIICCSSIVC govcl-nnic~its have carried out n pol~cy i l l tune with tlic belief of a co~iscrvntivc scllool of tllouglir that advocates tlic clioicc of OW of the tlircc ~najor indigenous languages (Igbo. I-lausa a d Yor~~ba) 11s a ~ia t io~id Int~guagc". I-lc sudtlciily sliitts his focus on tlic issue of nntio~ial la~iguagc rid adm~ts r l l ~ t 111c Nntiorr;rl Policy o ~ r Ecluc;~tio~r Iias bccn a boldest attc~npt by any Nigeria11 govcrIiriicIit to I-cgi11;itl: lnl~g~rngc ninttcrs.

011 his part, Ogu ( 1992: 92 - 94) stro~lgly asserts that "Nigeria has a national la~gpagc polic! ...." I-lc cites scctiorls 5 1 and I of tlic 1970 Fcdcral Constitution to illustrate tllc application of thc la~~guagc policy to politics. Scctiori 5 1 stipulates tliat. "Tlw business of the National Asscnlbly shd1 !.x coiidi~ctcd I I I

Etlglisll. Ibo. Hausa and Yorubn wlrcn adequate arr.mgemcnts have bwn madc tllcrclorc". 111 relation rv tllc state l~ouscs of assculbly. scction Y I of tllc Constitution states that. "Thc Housc oF Ast;criibt!, s l~d l be couductcd in Englislr but the l.lousc may ill addition to English conduct business of the I-lo~~sc in onc or lilorc other Inngungcs spoka~ in tire state as tlic House niay by rcsolution approve". In v i w 01' the forogoi~ig. 0gu concl~~dcs tllat "tl~c st:lnd of the Govcr~inicnt policy is tltnt English is rllc N;i!ional Liuig~~ogc il l Nigcri;~ and IS to 11c usccl i ts ~xolit~cal orl~lli~listration and for education ~)urposcs."

Iatiguagc policy ~ O I

IC Intrcr. I t should 1

c lnrtcr only rcfcrs I I . ..... . .

A critical ;rsscss~~lct~t of tl~csc argu~iic~~ts rcvcals that there arc two overlapping nation that Inus1 hc clarificd: I the nation and national language policy. Tho I .I i~icludcs ti -ckr to cm~l~rcllcnsivc policy statements on all n c nation. 1-11 to and should rcfcr to the policy statcnicnt adophs ;I I ; I I I L J I ; , ~ ~ O I I ; I I ~ L I ; L ~ G S

as tlic nat~ona~ lilllgllagc ur Ianguqcs of the nation. Tlic presence of tlic lattcr surcl>, pr-us~~pposcs tIrc esistcncc of' thc forulcr i l l a ~lntion. Thc former can be for~naliy and explicitly csprcsscC \\llllc tlic I n t w might not be so esprcsscd; tllis is tlic exact situation i n Nigcria. T h s Iias so111c ~nipl~c;:t~c)~is. \\l11c11 \\c sllall scc later.

Nigeria's Iatiguagc policy. csplicit a11d implicit, is scanty and defcctivc. This langu:~gc polic! IS

cnsliri~lcd in the National Policy - On Education. This document brought to tlic fore the i~nportancc ot la~~guagc in the busi~~css of formal cducation in Nigcria. This is expressed in scctioll o w

I n additio~~ to apprccilti~~g tl~c inlportancc of Imguagc in the cducati011:11 proccss. arid as a menus of prcsurving the people's culture, the Govcr~lrnmt consitlcrs i t to bc 111 t l~c i~ltcrcst of national unity that each cluld slrould be cncourrigccl to lc;m onu of tlic three major languages othor than 111s u.vn motl~cr-to~rgt~c. I I I this co~~~icction, tlic Go\cr~lmcnt considers tlic tl~rcc ~ilaior la~rguagcs i l l Nigcrin [o be I-iausa, Ibo and Yorttba.

In section twa, on prc-prirnnry cducation, the Policy Status that G I tiw nicclium of instruction will bc pri~rcq);tlly tl~c motllcr-tongue or thc languag I[! ". For primary cdwatiori, i l l section tllrcc. "C;ovcnlmalt will sce to it that tnc rncu~unl ur tnslrllclloll 111 tllc prirnary scliool is i~ii t inll!~ the ~notl~cr-toltgw to the la11 stagc, English". To cnsun: s~aooth i~nplcu~cntation, Go for man!s niorc Ni~crian languagcs and (b) produce ~CXIUOOKS 111 nlgerlan ranguagcs . I:] S C C I I ~ I I rul. I r IS

claialcd tlr;it :Lnngungc Cc~ltrcs arc bci~ig sct up at Fcdcral and State lcvcls for c~ll~arici~~g the stud!. ot Inngungcs. cspccially Nigcrr;ul Ianguai&'.

At tI1c jwior scco~irlary school Icvd. the policy stipulates that each studcilt sl~uulcl stiid!. t\\u N I ~ C ~ I ~ I I I latiguagcs a ~ ~ d ill sclccti~rg t l~c Ianguagcs, "Studcllts should study the Iangungc of tlicir uwtl ;lrca i l l aclrlitim to any of thrcc main Nigerian Iangt~ngcs. Hausa, Ibo aid Yorouba, subject to avnilabili .y of (cacl~crs". At the senior secondary level. English and o~ic Nigeria11 Iangtlagc form a part of thc core s~.b,jccts t i ~ r srl~clc~i~s wishing tu offer arts or Science in l l i~l~cr cducntion. 111 addition to all this. tllcrc is ;i ~r:ltior~:rl C'ur'r~culu~n for Engl~sll and tllc tilrcc mai~l Nigcrinn languages - Hausa, lgbo n d Yoruba.

. The forcguing bits of inli)r~iiatio~i cotlstitutc what can be tcr~ilcd Nigerian's csplicii I:r~~guagc pc~lic!,. Tlicrc is dso ~ h c iq~licit Inryu:lgc policy ivliich concerns thc tacit promotion of tlrc E11~'islr I;i~igui~gcr tu 1l1c status of' butli ol'ficinl wid national I:lnguagc. This is cvida~ccd by the domi~~ant role tllc In~rguagc is ~liuclc to pla!, in the cd~cation s!.stc111, politics, t~ational and state administratioti, wid i~~tcr~utional rclxtio~ls. Although thc uutirc 1;ulgungc policy "rc~nains the boldest attempt any govcrumcut Ins oitiilc tu rcgulak Ianguagc nlattcrs" in Nigcria, it falls short of being an instrument for t'ostcri~lg nntio~lal U I I I ~ ! ;111il

cducntionnl dc\;clop~~~cnt, So. Ict us sw how thc: policy has so far affected tintional unity crm dc~~clo1~11ic11t.

NIGERIA'S LANGUAGE POLICY AND NATIONAL UNITY Miller and Wcitz ( 1 979539) linvc correctly obscrved that the "basic problcnls of ne~v natlolis IS rhnr

of getting citizens to identi@ with n particular sub group". They hope that "sonlcliow tli: attacli~nc~~ts ot citizens to tribe. religion. langungc and so forth must be reconciled with thc new order". 111 N~gcr~a. \\l~crc the language situntio~i is "cstrcn~cly complex" arid where etlmic and tribal c31isc1ousricss 1s cmbarrassu~gly prollounccd. govcr~inicrit should havc exhibited astuteness in Iiandlrrig Iangt~agc niattcrs so that lnngungc will bcconic n tool for building national unity. A policy cspccinlly that 01' la~iguagc. I~ils ;r grcat dcal of political :i~id nd~lii~~istr:itivc lorcc to makc or mar n situation dcpc~iding o ~ i the goocln~ll ;wd dctcrrn~nat~on ol'tliosc 11ink111g n ~ d cscci~t~~ig the pol~cy.

l'hc first gncvous ll111lt of N i g h ' s Iar~guagc policy is its failure to recognize tlic Engfisli Ia~igu;~gc ;is N~gur~a's ~iatiorial Innguagc. in spite of its irrcplaceablc rolc in every fncct of nntional lit; This error Iias vitiatcd tlic calmity of tlic 1a11gu;rgc to weld Nigerians together. It is quite obvious t h r thc! E11glis11 Iangungc is thc strongest strins tlirlt binds Nigcrin togctlw. If by misfortunc thc language is inst;intI c~;iscd tiom tlic language t'nculty of cvcy Nigerian, Nigcria will automatically cease to exist. -I'Iic I;i~~gi~;igc is 1111:

only culti~rc that bclo~igs to Nigcrin ;is n gco-political cntity. From tliis line of tliouglit. tlic 1 i~iguagc is old! foreign to the clifl'crcnt ctlinic ~iatio~tnlitics that makc up Nigcria but indigenous to the tic\\ rol~~ical c1111t\. 11

formed and still nurtt~rcs. Apnrt frooi the English language there is notliuig of co~iitno~: I I I I C ~ C S ~ . 1~ I(

ccononi~c, polit~cal arid protkssiu~~al. thnr can alonc suppo~-t the existcricc of N~gcna. H not I J ~ ~ ~ C ~ I I ~ L J

E~iglish as the pnrnmount value arid treasure cvcry child should acqulrc rrglit fro111 111ti1iCj. the pol~c,. crcatcd a loophole that ~iiatic it possible for the irldigenous Iangmges to constitute n dcvastat,ng cc~itr~ft~gd linguistic forcc. Nigcrinn unity would Iiavc bucn greatly cnlianced if, right from infarir!.. cvcc clr~lil bcconics n \ w c that his nntio~inl latigr~ngc is English mid that it is wore irtigortn~it tliui ii~i!, utlw I ; I I I ~ I I ; ~ ~ ~ .

Tlic prcxnt policy did not do this; r;itl~cr tlic children havc hccn givcn tlic i~ilprcssion that EuJisli can od!- play a partial rolc in tlicir cducntiuri. With the prcsait situation, Nigcria has lost tlic opporti nit! to use the English Intigungc to crcatc national conscious~~css. wl~icll no 0 t h larlguagc 111 Nigcr~a has as ~iiucli lo~ce to do.

Sccoudl~.. tli~s dclihcratc pohcg oftlot pronouncing ally language as n 11alioaa1 la~guagc I ~ i s cu~itr~iuctl to kccp alrvc \vIi:it l111g111sts dcscr 11,ccl as "l;uiguagc" tug-of-war". In the co~iduct ol' rh~s \\;I . ctI1111c-I);is~'d scliools of thought have c~ncrgcd. cncli argilltig for or against tlic clioicc of o~ic laoguagc or the otllcr ns tllc tintio~inl Inuguagc. Even Igbincwckn. ns Badcjo(p.47) reports, who proposed a theory on tlir: crc;i[IoIi of ;i

"neutral" ~iational In~iguagc by I N I \ I I ~ up some chosen languages, was accused of' bc~ng s~:ctio~i:il 111 111s clioicc of lnngi~ngcs bccat~sc hc sclcctcd only tlic languages i n his, then. Bendcl Smtc. Orknor and N\\OSLI (19X7:X7) liavc th~s to say about tlic Ianguagc tug-of-war:

Tlicrc seems to be 110 elid to the tug-of-war l~ccaust. of a dccp-rooted lkar ol'

dom~nat~on \vh~cll each cthn~c group lins for othcr ctlirlic groups. l'llus i t Iias ~iot bee11 ~ ~ o s s ~ b l c to ndopt o~ic of the rnnjority language - Hausa. Igbo. or Yorubn - as Nigeria's oationnl Innguagc. I n Illc same vein. it has rlc~tlicr Occ~ possible to adopt ;uig ol'tlie numcrous nlinority lariguagcs nor to cvolvc ;in

ncccptablc sy~itlicsis of these lnrigi~ngcs for ncloption. Evcn the E~iglisli Ianguagc, which lins s~~cccssfi~lly provided the missing link, is ~iot acceptable to nianp Nigcrinus wlio maintain that it is n colonial legacy tvhicli Nigerians nlust discard if they arc to makc genuine claim lo full autonomy.

As this "war" goes on. ctl~nic conscious~icss gets strcngtlicncd and new crwks on the \\;ills ot

Nigeria's uaity dcvclop. dccl)co nticl \vidc~i.

Anotlicr way the policy has pro~notcd ctlinic conscio~~sncss, instead of nationd co~iscio~~sncss. is b! providing for tlic Fcdcrnl Govcr~imcnt's i~ivolvcnier~t in the promotion of tribal lii~~goagc. 111 tlic. lirst placc.

Nigeria IS a lkdcratio~i. a~id tlic cspcctatio~i shoi~ld be that each of tlic fcdcmting statcs slio~~lrl Ii;ivc IXCII allowcd to dccidc the t5tu of its local Iaoguagc while the Federal Government should COIICCI-11 its:lfwitli I I K dcvclopnicnt and pro~notion of n national Innguage. Instcad. the Federal Govcrmicnt Ir;rs r ) ! ~ c ~ r l b~vri pronloting tlic growth of each tribal Iangungu, Tlie policy nnkes the study of the local la11gu;igcs niandatory up to sc~iior scconclriry tcvcl. As a rcsult of all thcsc, national conscious~~css is u~iclcrniiecd.

. The cspcricuccs o f I~idia i l l I~anclli~ig regional languagc is intcrcsting to note. C~>st:d ( 11)Y7) reports 11101 ~~nl~~cclir~tcly nl'lcr I~idla's ~ ~ ~ d c ~ ) c ~ i d c ~ i c c . Dravia~i Inng~lngc militants bcgali to light I i ~ r ;I pul~t~cal stri~cturc i l l \vl~icll tlrcir sclxirotc I:~ligu:~gcs would be rcprcscntcd. This dcniand Icd 10 t l~c s c t t ~ g LII ) of' tlic L ~ ~ i g u ~ s t ~ c ['I-ov~~iccs C u l ~ ~ ~ ~ i r s s i o ~ ~ \\liosc rcpor! in 1948 opposed any political nrrnllgcrliclit on t )c hrlscs ( ~ t Innguagc bcwusc sucli nrrangc~iic~rt \\uuld bc a major obstacle lo the spread of natiwal cor~scrt~usrtcss ill

the new India. Furtlicr pressure by tlic Innguagc ~nilitnnts rcsultcd in a second coniniiss~o~i of'i~iq lin.. nliiel~ arrived at thl Co~~unission. With language pol cs by the militants COIISC~OUSI IC~S ;111u U I I I L ~ 111 I Y I ~ C I I;I. ;I U I I ICrcIii L ~ I I I I ~ I I ~ ~ ~ C I I S . Language. incluurr~g cllalcci;1r U I I crct~ccs. IS

usually a ~ in jo r factor irr dc~cr~ii~ning tlic boundaries of statcs.

: snriic co~ ic l t~s io~~ as tliu Ligiguistic Provinces icy. India was able to conrrol the divisive mov8 - - . - A .... :*.. I . . XI: - A:,-,: .-...A. I.:.-- I

I t 1s alw licccssnry to point that the wisliy-washy manner in wliich the Iariguagc pol~cy is i~nl~lclilc~~lcd in schools I S rcspa~~shlc for t l~c dici~otomy in tlw laagtrngc cducation of !lie Nigcr~n~i clldtl 'l'llcsc is apparent lack or unili)r~iiit~. 111 ln~igi~agc cducatio~i in Nigcrin. in the sc~lsc that rural scliwls I x . latrguagc teachers \vho \\i l l teach tlic stipulated Innguagcs wliilc the urban and unity scliools I r ; ~ \ c cuoug:~ la~iguagc tcaclicrs \vho liandlc the Iaoguagc. Also the clitc nursery arid prinlnry scllools i~ltroduuc 11ic LII~IISII Iangi~agc to tlic pupils r i ~ l i t from tllc very bcgi~i~iiug whilc in many rural scliools tlic wrnacular du~i i~~i ;~tcs the cnt~rc cd~~cation systc~ii fro111 tlic bcgi~ining to tlic cnd. A situation like this is I I O ~ ~ I I S I an.1 docs 11ot cidiatrcc snioutl~ social intcgrat~o~l mid uriity.

~intcd in the ~vcakcn~ng of' i~itcllcctual I )f pol~c!; the N ~ g c r i a ~ C;ovcn~nicnt IS i y c ,......+ I.. ... : r l . rl... ;..r .. ll.\,rr...-.l rl...,.rl--...,.n~

liould run counter to 1l1c cstnblishud principle of lnng tlic more capacit>, lie Ins to acquire lnngungcs; the c

. . .--,I- & I ...-.. ;" ,.,....-.. I ..,.. a* , , - : , . , I c... ",.",,;"

- - dcsirc tlicir cllilrlrc~i to Icnrn French. \r.liose i~su is bccon~lrig doniinant. a child's first clicou~ilcr iri tlic school is ie T r u ~ c l ~ . 0 d y French is irscd at Kinder-garten. English is only introduced ill tlic ~iii~ldlc of tlic prin~ary scl~ool. The first half of tlic sucondnry scl~ool is also ill French. This is policy aimed at :~cPicvi~ig rcsult. atid it is \\orking fur Qucbcc. I t is worthy of emulation.

The dangcr 111 this is that Nigerians nlay conti~iuc to find tiic~i~sclvcs tral?pccl at crossroacls 111 tlicir qilcst for intellectual dcvelopnicnt: ~nadcq~lntcr prcpnratron arid poor facilities for efkctive leam~ng in the use of c~rlicr English or an altcrnativc Nigcri'm languagc could result in incl'fcctivc ust: of Lglish :111d or ;I Nigerian language in reading arid Icarning.

Tlic situatloo slloi~lcl bc takcn seriously bccause tlic tcndcncy for mistrust and disag~ccnic~it is i1si1;111!* high i l l n linguistic milieu rlcvoid of cffcctivc lingua francn. This situation is iuiotllcr cr.;lck o ~ i tlic \\all ul ~i;\ l iot~d i~liity

ssuc. carc is rcq~~ir~xi ill Iia~idli

Ialigungcs sliauld bc lcfi for t

CONCLUSION I'lic s certainly n forcc that greatly i~ s

n vuscd i ng it. It is obvious that Nigeria 1 i~iiplc~iicr 1 so as to usc tlicnr lo foster 113 >

\\.lint c h l r i s . 111 VIC\\' nl tnls. I t slioulo oc rccornnlcnclcd that the policy bc rcv~cwcu anu n.psltyccl to raahc it n strong i~istrtmcnt uf ~iational unity. Thc Nigcrim Govcnment should join Iililll!n otlicr couiit~~ics of ~llc w r l d to dcclarc llic English Ia~igungc Iiur only national Innguagc and go all uut tu ~111urcc i ts acqllis111011. Locn l hc statcs to develop. Tl~csc conscici \vnr, rclnove tlic dichotomy in rapid intcllccrual dcvulupnicnt. All t h s will result in national unity, ~ 1 1 1 ~ ~ ~ ,, Il\r\rC.JJ.Il~ LVIIUIIIVII lCll

nnt~ounl dcvclopmc~it.

Badcjo, B. R. (It)X7) "A Study of tlic Attitudes of some Nigerians to llic Nii!iolid L;ingu;~gc Q~~cstion'' ill- N:~ti t)~~al Conscious~~ess fur Nigerin. Enugu: N i g c r h ~ S S O C I P ~ I O I I ~I 'Gc~icral Srlllllcs

Crytnl. David ( IOX7). 'Ivl~e C:l~nbrirlge E~rcyclopcdin or Lnngunge. Canibrr Jgc: (';i~iibr~clgc Unwrsity l'rcss.

Dickinson. David a id All!sa McCabc (1994), "Language Acquisitio~l" in E~icyc lopd i ;~ of Lhglish Strdics :n10 L ; \ I I ~ I I : I ~ C Art vul. 11, NCW York: Scliolarstic Inc.

Enucsikc. Jamcs ( IYX7) " A tlicorcticnl Alialysis of tlic Rclationsliip Dcrwcctr Li111gu:iqc and N:il~iuiaI Consciousness" ill Natiollnl Consciousness for Nigerin, Enugu: Nigurimi Associ;tio~l of C ~ C I . ; ~ Studies.

Fcclcrnl Kcpublic of Nigcria (198 I) National Policy on Education.

Millcr. E. S. A I I ~ C . A. Wcitz (1979) Introduction to A~~thropology. N w Jcrsc!': I'rc~iticc-f..l;~lI

Ogt~. J . N. (10'92). A Ilistorir;~l Survey of Eaglish nrld the Nigcrir~ri Situ:~lion. L.~I~;us; l i a l i I h A s Ltd

Oknor, E. 0. And S. U. Nwosu (1987). "Promoting National coriscious~~css tl~rough t:111gi1:1gc: T l i c Contr~butions o f tl~c Usc of El~glish Course" in N n t i o d Co~~sc ious~~ess for Nigvri:~, EIIII~IB: National Association ot'Cict~crn1 Studics.

"13. 0. Nwoltolo is in thc School o f General and Remedial Sturlics, Fcdcral