As far as I am aware of, the Nigerian constitutions of both 1979 and 1999 recognise Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo as National languages. In addition, multi-ethnic states which house most of Nigeria's 586 languages(this number comes from the most recent Nigerian languages survey which tookmplace between 1997 and 2002, unfortunately I don't have any references here), also have their own state languages policy. For instance, the Rivers state goverment established the River's readers project in the 1970s. This was used to promote Ijaw, Ogoni(Khana and Gokana) and other major languages within the state. Doubtless, other states would also have their own language policies.
--- In [email protected], "Donald Z. Osborn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Of possible interest on the topic of the role of English and African languages > in what we call Anglophone Africa: An excerpt from the review by T. Temi Ajani, > Dept. of African & Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Florida > of > English in Ghana. M. E. Kropp Dakubu, ed. Accra: Ghana English Studies > Association, 1997 > http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v5/v5i1a11.htm > > ... > > The last section [of the book], "Into the Future", comprises only one paper by > eminent linguist Ayo Banjo, author of several articles and books on the English > language [EL] in Nigeria. Banjo delves into the often volatile and thorny > national language issue and language policy formulation and implementation -- > an area of major concern in most of the ex-British colonies of Africa and Asia. > Also at issue in this paper is the often ambivalent, if not ambiguous, role of > EL in these so-called anglophone nations. According to Banjo, well thought out > language policy has been neglected, with all the obvious implications on the > educational and governmental institutions of the countries concerned. He calls > for the replacement of the exoglossic EL with endoglossic languages as national > lingua francas. Banjo believes EL will still maintain a co- official role with > the chosen indigenous official languages (due to its international role), he > suggests an endonormative, rather than an exonormative model of usage. In > conclusion, Banjo calls for a working partnership, collaboration and > information sharing among linguists and language policy makers within the > West-African sub-region in order to achieve a more lasting solution to what is > a sensitive issue for all the nations concerned. > > ... Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
