₦airaland Forum

In the beautiful European country of Switzerland, there are four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. English is not an official language in Switzerland, even though most Swiss speak English quite well.

In the beautiful African country of South Africa, there are twelve official languages (look them up).

What this means is that these languages are officially developed and supported. Their use is encouraged in many places. In other words, in those countries, people can express themselves in the languages their mothers first taught them - also in court, also in University. This makes communication a lot easier. The languages are not neglected - they are instead encouraged, so that they can grow and adapt and can be used for sophisticated communications.

What do we see in the beautiful country of Nigeria? We see that there is only one official language, English. It is a language that is foreign to the country. Local languages are not encouraged and protected. There is no Hausa Language Institute. You cannot speak Hausa in court. The best place to learn Hausa as a second language is in the United States.

The works of a famous Nigerian author like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have been translated from English into thirty languages, including for example Norwegian and Vietnamese. However, her works are not available in Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba.

Isn't it time to follow the examples of Switzerland, South Africa and many other countries and to promote the languages of Nigeria more?

This idea is part of a wider set of ideas that I have tried to develop in a new short book, available (in English only, sorry) via https://africanations./2015/12/26/african-identities-a-new-perspective/