NIGERIAN NATIONAL LANGUAGE POLICY: PECULIARITIES, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

 In Nigeria, several attempts had been made in the past to arrive at a National Language Policy document but there was no single policy document that exclusively contained stipulations or provisions on language and language development except the National Policy on Education (NPE). However, the Nigerian Government in 2022 released the National Language Policy (NLP) document. The NLP is a deliberate effort and documentation by the government to regulate the coexistence, development and utilization of all Nigerian languages for national development. This paper explicates the peculiarities and challenges of implementing the provisions stipulated in the NLP. It identifies peculiarities such as the uniqueness of the NLP as the first comprehensive edition of national language use in every facet of the country, assignment of roles to both indigenous languages and the English language as well as putting in place structures that can help in the implementation of the policy. Based on the literature reviewed, the paper observes that most of the provisions stipulated in the NLP are yet to be implemented, though the NLP is still in its infancy. The paper further reveals that some of the challenges of implementing the NLP include: lack of resourceful materials that will bring the language to scholars such as textbooks, inadequate language teachers, and lack of monitoring mechanism to implement the formulated policy. This paper therefore, recommends among others that the Federal Government should create massive awareness about the emergence of the NLP, provide adequate funding for the implementation of the stipulations in the NLP at all levels, and develop more educational resources and orthographies of the indigenous languages while allowing itself to be committed to the necessary political will that will aid the implementation of the NLP.