₦airaland Forum

Until we can do a credible census, these figures na scam.

Samantha125:
How come we never hear anything about these Hausa people? Are they hiding or they just don't like social media?

Social media is not a real place.

CalmluxPaint:
This statistics is clearly faulty, especially with Pidgin English not being the number one most spoken language in Nigeria by a long mile.

All of the South-South, South East, North Central, South West, and a significant population of the North East and North West speak Pidgin English.

Let's not even talk about its influence on Afrobeats and the global acceptance of it. If we consider its number of speakers in Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Edo State alone, that's well over 50 million speakers.

There was a research earlier this year that ranked it amongst the top 5 spoken languages in Africa.

Omoh eh! The thing tire me o. I just dey look the post with one kind eye.
In all states of the federation, pidgin English is spoken in all the States capital and urban cities.

Samantha125:
How come we never hear anything about these Hausa people? Are they hiding or they just don't like social media?

Who's the we?

Are you in Nigeria to know about them?

43Ronin:
Its not possible that English is spoken more than pidgin, & and its not also possible that 22 million people speak fulfude

I believe English is likely spoken more than pidgin.

That's the language of business in Nigeria.

Patnome:
I am not like you that grew up in your little hut village

I am from delta state,
I did my service in Imo state,
I have been to Oyo state and currently based in fct

Your case is one of two:
1) Either you genuinely don't know or
2) You are outrightly lying..



Even if you are a local man who have never travelled, you can still broaden your mind by reading books and listening to those who have travelled wide.

Ibrahimcoomasie:
TOP 10 MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA (2026)

Source

Yinmu People!
Make Una de deceiving una selves!
Yoruba Language Lagba( the Greatest Spoken)- All Over the World 🌎 and CONTINENTS!
• From Benin-Republic,
- to Brazil
-to Mexico and,
- Across the South America, including Argentina,
- Yoruba Language is Spoken Fluently and iby Millions of People.
•But you can Manipulate the Truth in Nigeria,just as it was Falsely Reported about a Month Ago on this same Nairaland -Forum that Kano Population is bigger than Lagos State and you believe that Hook 🪝, Line and Sinker!
Na Foolishness be that!

All these oluwole and unverifiable statistics. People just sit down in their houses to churn out figures.

stuffs2002:
Your case is one of two:
1) Either you genuinely don't know or
2) You are outrightly lying..



Even if you are a local man who have never travelled, you can still broaden your mind by reading books and listening to those who have travelled wide.

Quiet your mouth if you have nothing meaningful to say

All these children on nairaland always talking like kids

Have you ever left your village before?

DeLaRue:
Understanding and speaking it occasionally (when there's a need for it) is not the same as speaking it daily like Yoruba or Hausa.

Also, Abuja us not representative of Nigeria.

Speaking Yoruba is same as speaking English and pidgin

Nigerians speak pidgin more than Yoruba language

Very wrong information,ijaw is the 4th largest language in Nigeria,ijaw is in 7 States, namely, Bayelsa, River's,Delta, Ondo, Lagos,and Ogun state,how did tivs get into the equation..Tiv can't even make 20th position.

Neoteny:
Social media is not a real place.

If it's not a real place, then what is it?

Patnome:
Wrong

After Hausa, it should be followed by pidgin

80% of Yorubas speak pidgin add that to other regions in Nigeria

this is not true,yorubas that speaks pidgin are mostly in Lagos and tertiary institution and they are less than 15%.


Average yorubas prefer to speak pure English than pidgin.




The statistics is wrong about the fulanis,I have never seen a non Fulani that understood fulfude.
If the fulani are not up to 15million then the statistics is wrong because even some of them don't speak fulfude,some immigrants Fulani only speak French,and many younger ones speaks only hausa.

So how did they get that representation?

DeLaRue:
I believe English is likely spoken more than pidgin.

That's the language of business in Nigeria.

I hope you didn't include those business places with markets and shopping centres

Which one is this Anaang?

I think you should know by now that I don't answer questions asked on top of other questions.

Goo0dHardDick:
Who's the we?

Are you in Nigeria to know about them?

CalmluxPaint:
This statistics is clearly faulty, especially with Pidgin English not being the number one most spoken language in Nigeria by a long mile.

All of the South-South, South East, North Central, South West, and a significant population of the North East and North West speak Pidgin English.

Let's not even talk about its influence on Afrobeats and the global acceptance of it. If we consider its number of speakers in Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Edo State alone, that's well over 50 million speakers.

There was a research earlier this year that ranked it amongst the top 5 spoken languages in Africa.

---------_-----_------------


You are absolutely current and correct

*Earlier in 2025*, data compiled by _Visual Capitalist_ from _Ethnologue_ ranked *Nigerian Pidgin English as #1 most spoken language in Africa*, which also puts it well within the top 5.

*What the research said:*
- *Nigerian Pidgin: 121 million speakers* in 2025
- *Global rank: 14th* in the world
- *Breakdown*: Only ∼5 million speak it as a first language, but ∼116 million use it as a second language
- It *surpassed Egyptian Arabic, Hausa, and Swahili* to become Africa's most spoken language

Other African languages on that same 2025 list:
*Hausa* ranked 19th globally with 94 million speakers, *Swahili* had 87 million, and *Egyptian Arabic* had 119 million.

*Why it grew so fast*
The report linked it to rapid urbanisation, regional trade, and Nigerian pop culture — music and Nollywood films spreading it
beyond Nigeria. Academics also call West
African Pidgin the largest language cluster in West Africa, with 106–143 million speakers across 6 countries.
*Note*
It’s still considered an informal/"national" language. But as a spoken lingua franca, it’s now #1 on the continent.

So yes, not just top 5 — it was ranked #1 in Africa for 2025.

DeLaRue:
Not true.

You can exist in places like Kwara, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun etc and not speak a word of pidgin in your daily life for several months.

I'd guess that more than 95% of Yorubas in all SW states don't habitually speak pidgin to one another.

Same would probably be true in most Northern states.

Pidgin is only in common use in Lagos, South South, and I assume SE.

this is true,I didn't know how to speak pidgin until I was 28 years and even up till now,I prefer pure English

mamaafrik:
this is not true,yorubas that speaks pidgin are mostly in Lagos and tertiary institution and they are less than 15%.


Average yorubas prefer to speak pure English than pidgin.




The statistics is wrong about the fulanis,I have never seen a non Fulani that understood fulfude.
If the fulani are not up to 15million then the statistics is wrong because even some of them don't speak fulfude,some immigrants Fulani only speak French,and many younger ones speaks only hausa.

So how did they get that representation?

All Yorubas I have met speak pidgin

Yorubas are very enlightened people. Speaking pidgin is no big deal for them
Except maybe aged people

Bluntemperor:
Yinmu People!
Make Una de deceiving una selves!
Yoruba Language Lagba( the Greatest Spoken)- All Over the World 🌎 and CONTINENTS!
• From Benin-Republic,
- to Brazil
-to Mexico and,
- Across the South America, including Argentina,
- Yoruba Language is Spoken Fluently and iby Millions of People.
•But you can Manipulate the Truth in Nigeria,just as it was Falsely Reported about a Month Ago on this same Nairaland -Forum that Kano Population is bigger than Lagos State and you believe that Hook 🪝, Line and Sinker!
Na Foolishness be that!

What's wrong with most of you and tribalistic tendency.
I'm an Igbo man but there's no doubt that Hausa is the more spoken language in Nigeria.
Did the post talked about the world you're mentioning now.
Add Igbo and Youruba together, are we up to Hausas in population? Don't you know that population counts for them in terms of language spoken.
.
Like for example, English is almost spoken in all countries of the world. But it's not the most spoken world language.
The most spoken world language is "Mandarin" which is Chinese indigenous language. And why is it so, bcus of the sheer number of Chinese population.
So sometimes you guys should leave emotions and sentiment out of somethings

So hausa is spoken more than pidgin? Dey play

Kalulu44:
If it's not a real place, then what is it?

A fake place.

Duh 🙄

Patnome:
70% of Nigeria speak and understand pidgin

Even most abokis in Abuja speak pidgin

no bro,pidgin is not up to 35%, average Hausa and yorubas can't speak it.

Lagos isn't Nigeria.

lordm:
Why?
Pidgin English should be number 1

Your protesting and you are still using that same English language to protest 😂😂.
Guy just accept that list.

The number seen here are guess work. In Nigeria, how can you have 22m people speaking fufude(fulani language) what is the population of fulanis in Nigeria??
I don't have confidence in this report

mamaafrik:
no bro,pidgin is not up to 35%, average Hausa and yorubas can't speak it.

Lagos isn't Nigeria.

Average northerners , I will somehow agree with you but not average Yorubas please

I have lots of Yoruba friends and all speak and flow in pidgin

The agenda is gradually agending.
Imagine Fulfulde being spoken by over 20m people, tell me how you can still call them minority in Nigeria?
They have allowed incubation of the Fulas and now they are growing rapidly one day we will be shocked that they have become the most populous indigenous Nigeria.
It is well.

For those arguing about Chloe English, there are some dynamics to it. The fact that we are L2 English speakers will enable is to be able to respond and interact with anyone communicating with it, but that doesn't make you a speaker of the language this is same way I can pick root words from an hausa speaker so as to Interact with him.
Apart from Lagos state, pidgin English is not spoken nor accepted in SW states . I've been to all the states there, it seems same goes for the east aside Onitsha and Aba markets .

Then in the north, if it's not Hausa then a corrupted English that will not even go for pidgin.
So, that left the south south the predominant speaker of pidgin English.
Therefore, I think it's occupying it's rightful position.

Hiw many of us agreed with this statistics?

For me I don't agree.

If Nigeria is 250 million as we always project, then, it suffice to say that
1. If Nigeria is predominantly illiterate country with diverse ethnicity, it means that means if communication would be pidgin which should be higher. Let us say 100 40% of the population.
2. Few opportunists in the country who went to school have the ability to communicate in English cannot be less than 60 to 100 half of them would be from no 1 while other would be half.
3. Everyone who speaks pidgin, English also speak one local language or the other. So, we can start ranking them according to the population of each ethnic group.

Fulfude.

datola:
What language do the Fulani people speak. Hausa?

There is no way the number of people speaking Nigerian pidgin could be less than those speaking standard English in a country where even an average university graduate can hardly speak good English.

Ibrahimcoomasie:
TOP 10 MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA (2026)



Source