Nigerian Pidgin and the Quest for a National Language

Abstract

This paper examines the candidature of Nigerian Pidgin (NP) as a national language in Nigeria. A mixed method research design was used for the study. Questionnaire was given to fifty students from the faculty of Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka to gauge their attitude towards Nigerian Pidgin as a national language. The study employs postcolonial theory to examine how the legacy of colonialism impacts the power dynamics of language use and subjugation and how it impacts people’s attitudes and language policy decisions. The findings show that negative attitude towards Nigerian Pidgin is its most powerful setback. It is therefore suggested that government should institute a language planning agency for corpus and status planning for the standardization and acceptance of Nigerian Pidgin as a national language since it is the only indigenous ethnically neutral language in Nigeria and is therefore less likely to encounter the least resistance.