₦airaland Forum

I'm curious, if you were to represent the multiplicity of Nigerian culture in images, what would you include then? The Nigerian flag, for example, can serve as a marker of solidarity, but once again ties all people together under just one symbol.

RedboneSmith:
The very notion of a Nigerian identity is British in origin. So yes. Let English continue to represent that identity while our indiviudal languages continue to represent our ethnic identities.

Thank you for your insights, I agree. That's my main issue with this practice of equating one language to one nation/flag.

RedboneSmith:
The very notion of a Nigerian identity is British in origin. So yes. Let English continue to represent that identity while our indiviudal languages continue to represent our ethnic identities.

Do you think the English language can accurately represent the Nigerian identity?

lordm:
Nigeria is an English speaking country

You know how the language learning app Duolingo separates their language courses by flags of countries? What language would Nigeria be? Obviously there's so many languages in India but they only teach Hindi, so would Nigeria's be English?

This is really interesting, thanks for sharing. Do you think there's bots in replies to these posts? I honestly couldn't tell.

Therising:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viBM71Eg2DY?si=02W7B1CJ_NB2q4pg

Hello, (my apologies if this is not relevant enough to Nigerian political matters) I'm an American citizen concerned about the implications of the United States making English the official language of our country. You may be surprised to learn that we have never had an official language before, even though all of our governance and education is conducted in English by standard. However, this lack of official status requires our government to provide important documents and procedures in languages other than English to our citizens, residents, and visitors (and nearly 1/3 of Americans speak a language other than English anyway, including myself). If English is made the official language, those resources could disappear, as they have already begun to do so on our government websites.

Given that English is the official language of Nigeria, I am curious about your experiences. I know that English is also the primary language of governance and education in Nigeria, but how does that affect what resources are available in languages other than English? How does it affect your connection to your personal or national identity?

Also, this was only 3 months ago...

thisisit:
SINCE LAST YEAR? AN OUTDATED NEWS
DIS IS WASTE OF TIME AND DATA

U LEFT TOPICAL ISSUES OF GAZA PEACE, TERRORISTS OVERUN OF GOVT IN NIGERIA, YOU DECIDED TO DISTRACT NIGERIANS ...
THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF INSENSITIVITY!!!!! ...HISSSSSSS

Isn't this relevant to Nigerian government? If English is the official language of Nigeria and Liberia but not recognized with prestige, how does that reflect upon their people in global politics?

thisisit:
SINCE LAST YEAR? AN OUTDATED NEWS
DIS IS WASTE OF TIME AND DATA

U LEFT TOPICAL ISSUES OF GAZA PEACE, TERRORISTS OVERUN OF GOVT IN NIGERIA, YOU DECIDED TO DISTRACT NIGERIANS ...
THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF INSENSITIVITY!!!!! ...HISSSSSSS

Well South Africa was already mentioned but, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.

eepeepook:
Examples?

"Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?" In July, Trump commented on Boakai’s “beautiful English” in a White House meeting over a pivot from foreign aid to trade with West Africa, further probing the Liberian president as to where he was educated. On BBC News Pidgin (https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Bx9y8f4Bj/), the exchange between Trump and Boakai includes additional in-video text detailing that English is the official language of Liberia as a country founded in 1822 by freed African American slaves. The comments on this video are still bringing up interesting points about judging language on a global scale.

What do you think of this? English is the official language of Nigeria as well, so what if it were Tinubu instead of Boakai? What does this exchange say about the representation of African Englishes on a global scale?

Do you think this approach is effective in preserving and promoting languages other than English in South Africa?

Samantha125:
We have 11 official languages in SA... I did my native language Sepedi as a subject throughout my primary and high School... It's also one of the official languages of communication at the university of Limpopo, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Tshwane University of Technology, and Vaal University of Technology.

We mostly only use English during school hours since majority of our subjects are taught in English and during working hours since we tend to be diversed in our workplaces, immediately we get home, our English bundles get depleted... ... Only few have adopted English as their primary language due to living in racially diversed communities... And if you're not comfortable in speaking English during court proceedings, the court will get a translator for you.

We're trying our best to preserve our native languages... Some Indians and Coloureds from KwaZulu Natal province have also adopted Zulu as their secondary language.

Indeed. Why shouldn't Nigeria join them?

eepeepook:
Have any other former colonies changed theirs?

Do you think English is the best representative option for Nigeria? Furthermore, wouldn't making Pidgin the official language require some kind of standard form to be used in government or education?

Bahamas95:
For peace to reign let's maintain it like this.


Even if at all they wanna change it from English language the best decision is to make pidgin our official language.

This October marks 85 years since Nigeria's independence from Britain, but English maintains a significant position in Nigerian culture, education, and politics. Why is that? Do you think English should still be the official language of a postcolonial Nigeria? Why or why not?