Harnessing multilingualism in Nigeria for development: The challenges and strategies

Abstract

The arbitrary and haphazard territorial boundaries imposed by the colonial masters in the last two centuries or so did not take cognizance of the people’s diversities before differentiating Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African states. As a result, the geo-political enclave now known as a country encompasses people with varying linguo-cultural identities. This has continued to have far reaching effects on the socio-economic potentials of the nation. This paper argues that the post independence Nigeria’s slow pace on the road of development is due to the non-participation of the Nigerian mono-lingual majority in the socio-economic and political affairs of the nation. This phenomenon is either as a result of the non-availability, non-utilization or defective language policy geared towards the use of mother-tongues. This paper therefore contends that positive results can still be gleaned from the resourceful utilization and positive involvements of the Nigerian factors despite her multilingualism. An empirical survey on the area of activities where English domination is mostly manifested was conducted among some secondary schools located in the South western part of Nigeria. It was found that European influence had continued to have series of devastating effects on the self actualization ethos of the nation because a wealth of indigenous knowledge was being locked away in the local languages and was gradually being lost as the custodians of this knowledge passed on. It is conclusively posited, therefore, that sustainable developments of the Nigerian individual and society only reside in turning a new leaf to the involvement of mother-tongues in the production and consumption of the world knowledge. Key words: Harnessing, multilingualism, linguo-cultural, mother-tongues, nationality, Yoruba