Language Planning in a Multi-Ethnic State: The Majority/Minority Dichotomy in Nigeria

Abstract

Language policies and planning in Nigeria have hitherto not been realistically responsive to the linguistic diversity in the country. Rather, they have succeeded in accentuating ethnic consciousness and vitality with language as a symbol. For example, Nigeria is now polarized along two linguistic lines – linguistic majority and linguistic minority. Our standpoint in this paper is that a situation such as this is inimical to our emerging democracy and our aspiration for national development. The paper, therefore, will examine language policy and planning attempts in Nigeria since independence to the present. Against the backdrop of a case study of language planning in a country like Canada, with similar linguistic problems, this paper advocates a government’s strategy of governance, which allows for greater decentralization of power and which recognizes and protects the linguistic rights of all Nigerians.

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