₦airaland Forum

Igbo is larger in population than Yorubas

richiejedi:
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.

That's not true . Spreading across a tiny, swampy area across many states does not mean that they have reasonable speakers. In fact, before and after Independence, the Calabar people were the fourth largest in Nigeria. But due to politics, brothers (Efik, Ibibio, Anang) are now seeing themselves as different and enemies

If you didn't see your language there, that means you're not part of the jungle... You belong to the zoo (reasonable enclave) more organized than the jungle

I don't think its possible for pidgin not to be number 1.

We

Decryptor:
How will this information reduce the price of fuel?

That Fufulde na very big lie..stat coined to please the caliphate

richiejedi:
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.

ijaw in ondo state are immigrants

Samantha125:
I've heard, but you'll never hear the Hausa people chest beating about it, it's the same Southerners that'll be labelling Northerners poor and illiterates that'll be claiming him every two minutes and using his name to gloat.

madam Zulu face your country

God1000:
Nice one, but Igede language in Benue state should have been included

Which language is Igede again?

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.

I disagree with you.
Go to villages in North, you'd rarely see anyone who understands pidgin.

If I'm Zulu, then I guess everyone in Nigeria is also Hausa.

PoloG:
madam Zulu face your country

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.

No sir. If you were well-traveled, you would know that the pidgin English isn’t anywhere near the Hausa and Yoruba languages. In the North, people often erroneously believe that everybody there is Hausa since that’s what everybody speaks and because just like the South West, the northern Nigeria is another cultural melting point (e.g Kano).
Almost every soul living in the South west regardless of their tribes understands and speaks the language very fluently. It is not uncommon to see a Fulani , Edo, Benue, Igbo or Hausa person speaking the language just exactly like the natives but same can’t be said about the pidgin English. Most Yorubas and Hausas (the regions that house the largest population in the country) can’t even speak the pidgin English correctly😁😁
It’s only the SS that speaks the language correctly.
You go think say na lie until you enter the SW or North.

God1000:
Nice one, but Igede language in Benue state should have been included

What is the difference between Tiv and igede?

English should be more than 100million

Decryptor:
How will this information reduce the price of fuel?

We are working on it now.......

Rmace:
What's the population of people o who speaks pidgin for it to be number 1

Which region is recognized as pidgin tribe, before it can be place as number 1? All these stats are technically projected format to rig 2027 election.

Rmace:
What's the population of people o who speaks pidgin for it to be number 1

Almost everyone who speak English in Nigeria also knows how to speak pigin, but many percent of people from North, middle belt, south south, south east and south west knows to speak pigin without even knowing how to speak proper English. The statistics is completely wrong for pigin not to be in the number one spot. Pigin is by far the most spoken language in Nigeria.

I don't support this stat, pidgin should cross 100 million, meanwhile Igbo should cross 35 million.
Even English should reach 80 to 100 million as well.

lordm:
Why?
Pidgin English should be number 1

Well said! Pidgin has more than 100m speakers in Nigeria; that's the most popular language in Nigeria.

stuffs2002:
Most of you don't travel out of your local areas

Mr traveller, he is right with his submission, how many Nigerians can even speak correct English language? Not when pidgin is the most used language on higher institutions campuses across the nation

Patnome:
Wrong

After Hausa, it should be followed by pidgin

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

Lies from the pit of hell, even in lagos, less than 40% yorubas speak pidgin, na their yoruba dialect they use in public buses, churches, markets and occasions even public schools......I was marvelled at that level of backwardness

In Abeokuta, a state capital, you can't survive without understanding the language

English is spoken everywhere in Nigeria. How is Hausa even close to that? Go to core Southern, Eastern and Western states. They don't or rarely speak Hausa. So it's easy to find faults in this data

Naustine:
Wrong...lots of people in rural areas don't speak pidgin

Give me example please, people wey no sabi speak pidgin na English dem wan come sabi?

Rmace:
What's the population of people o who speaks pidgin for it to be number 1

Those that speak English understand pidgin but you cant say the same if you reverse the case

Emeskhalifa:
I disagree with you.
Go to villages in North, you'd rarely see anyone who understands pidgin.

how many people dey the villages in north? Make una no dey talk wetin una no know abeg

rapcy:
how many people dey the villages in north? Make una no dey talk wetin una no know abeg

You are responding to someone who is from North, don't just stay in your East or Lagos and be saying what you don't know, even the regular Hausas doing menial Jobs and Okada in the cities, how many of dem understand pidgin?

rapcy:
Give me example please, people wey no sabi speak pidgin na English dem wan come sabi?

That's where u get it wrong. Read again. The write up is about active speakers not who could speak.. apart from delta, edo, and Lagos that are active pidgin speakers intoto..the rest of the country pidgin is actively spoken in urban areas..
The rest and majority speak their native dialects as a mode of communication. Get it straight

How did they get the statistics by March may 2026 igbo is third spoken language in Nigeria with 40% of people

Emeskhalifa:
You are responding to someone who is from North, don't just stay in your East or Lagos and be saying what you don't know, even the regular Hausas doing menial Jobs and Okada in the cities, how many of dem understand pidgin?

Since you know the North that much, between the urban and rural, which has higher population percentage? You're talking about okada people, hope you're not confusing few of the Niger people who are bike men that can't speak pidgin and only understand hausa and their dialect? Most of keke people you see left villages in north to Lagos and other parts of the country because of insecurity, yet, they understand and speak pidgin. Thesame rural people you're talking about o. A lot of the rural communities in north understand and can speak pidgin English. Also, if most of them according to you cannot speak pidgin, na english dem want come sabi speak? The data is wrong, the most spoken language in Nigeria is Pidgin, I've been to communities where they speak just their dialect, but the moment you communicate in pidgin, they understand what you're saying.

Naustine:
That's where u get it wrong. Read again. The write up is about active speakers not who could speak.. apart from delta, edo, and Lagos that are active pidgin speakers intoto..the rest of the country pidgin is actively spoken in urban areas..
The rest and majority speak their native dialects as a mode of communication. Get it straight

Oga the thread says, 10 most spoken languages, it wasn't specified wether active or not. And honestly, it doesn't matter because, on both side pidgin is still the most understandable and most spoken in the whole of Nigeria. Pidgin is no 1, English no 2.

Hemanwel:
So, what they are making us to understand is that, Nigeria is made up of 251.19m people? Nor be so?

Not exactly. There are people that speak the 1st 5 or more all together. So it's less.