Thanks. The thing is, each African country pursues their own policies (on paper at least) for instance RSA(South Africa) recognises eleven official languages, however in practice only English(and a grudging nudge towards Cape Dutch aka Afrikaans) are accorded any level use by the national/federal governments. In Nigeria, the situation is more complex. Some Nigerian languages have got tens of millions of speakers, some a few million, some less than a million, a few hundred thousand, tens of thousands, even a few thousand. There are even a few languages with less than a hundred speakers no doubt they'll soon be extinct! It's inevitable that some communities would undergo complete language shift within a few years. However, some of the smaller language communities have created their own arrangements for recording/preserving their mother tongues. I believe the Nigerian federal government only recognises orthorgraphies for between twenty to fifty Nigerian languages. Obviously, many communities outside these have their own orthorgraphies, which aren't yet recognised officially by the federal govt of Nigeria. NERDC(Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council), NLC (National Language Centre) and NINLAN(National Institute of Nigerian LANguages) are Nigeria's main language development bodies.
On a similar note, the Ogun State(my home state) house of assembly elected to use the Yoruba language for their deliberations every Wednesday. Similarly, Anambra state house of assembly elected to use the Igbo language on Wednesdays. In the far north, I'm sure the Hausa speaking states have been using Hausa in their official business for many years. Lagos state rejected the use of Yoruba in their house of assembly back in 1999. This was becaue, even though a Yoruba-speaking state, being the former federal capital, people from all over the federation and beyond live there. Hence, the politicians decided it wasn't right to use Yoruba there. These things can be tied in with the desire for self-governing regions, rather than the states which are at the federal government's mercy. In the 1960s when there was regional government, the regional language polcies were more conducive to language develoment. Well, that's it for now. ciao --- In [email protected], "Don Osborn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks for this information. A couple of quick replies. > > First, a few years ago I referenced a title in a paper that mentioned > that Nigerian languages were generally used in local government. > Unfortunately I don't have the paper or the reference handy, but I do > recall that one reviewer had doubts about the accuracy of the source. > Your information, however, does tend to bear this source out. > > My experience in the region, though not in Nigeria, is that the > indigenous languages are often used. This is in part because people > use more than one language in a lot of settings, and it is natural to > use what most people speak in any setting, or at least any setting > where some rule (social, legal) requires something else to be used. > SImilarly, it is a recognition that although formal government > communications often are required in the official languages - > English, French, Portuguese - the local realities are that these are > second (third...) languages for almost everyone, and many don't > master them that well. > > This brings me to the second issue, that of language policy. What you > mention, and the situation in Nigeria generally, seems to represent a > policy decision re language regions/states. The question then is what > constitutes language policy. While any law or decision by government > or popular consent may be considered part of language policy, my > understanding of the term is that it goes much further. > > What I understand from Ayo Banjo's remark as reported in the review, > is that language policies may not be thought through thoroughly > and/or implemented fully. Note in particular his call "... 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." > > An example of possible interest that I return to from time to time is > that of the interAfrican declarations and action plans on language > over the 4 decades plus since independence. Very often these have > been unacted upon and even forgotten. See for example Marcel Diouf's > summary at http://www.acalan.org/an/consult.htm *. These agreements, > intended to guide planning of language policy, have been largely > neglected. > > This is not to say that nothing has been done, and indeed there are > some interesting efforts in Nigeria, both on governmental and popular > levels. But perhaps more can be done for comprehensive and nuanced > language policy there and around the continent, especially as it has > such important and often overlooked meaning for development, > education, cultural revitalization, and economic improvement (no less > in Africa than in other parts of the world). > > These are just a few quick reactions from a non-African. It would be > interesting to pursue this discussion further. > > Don > > * Some of these documents are available at > http://www.bisharat.net/Documents/ > > > --- In [email protected], "egbaman1" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > 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/
