FACE:

It is absolutely necessary to speak in a manner that most people will understand without straining their ears.

Most English speakers in Nigeria will understand the English spoken with US or British accent as long as the speaker speaks in a clear manner; in other words plain English or the TV English as I call it. The reverse is not the case as more Nigerians are exposed to English spoken with British or US accent than Americans and Brits exposed to Nigerian english.

Now if an American speaks only in heavy southern accent, other people will have to tune their ears into that speaking frequency to understand the speaker. The same applies to UK if someone speaks with heavy Scottish, Welsh, Irish or any of the northern accents. This brings the need to speak a common English that everyone understands.

Now, Americans, Brits and other English speakers will find it even more difficult understanding English spoken with heavy Nigerian accent.

Therefore, if anyone with Nigerian accent tries to speak in such a way that he is understood without having to repeat himself all the time, the person should be commended rather than criticized; afterall a Yoruba or Igbo Hausa-speaker does not go about saying "I am not going to make an effort to improve on my Hausa language because I prefer to speak Hausa with my Igbo or Yoruba accent, lest people say that I am speaking Hausa with a fake Hausa accent"

omega25red:

i remember about 12 years a go i ran into an igbo guy in Gambia and i tell you i could have swore that the dude lived in europe or something his accent sounded so real but i found out later that he had only travelled to Gambia and he hadn't even been any where near europe ever.

You need to hear oyinbo wey nefa near africa much more naija speaking pidgin with ibo accent