Language of Instruction Country Profile: Nigeria

According to SIL International's Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 19 languages are institutional, 76 are developing, and 299 are vigorous, while 82 are in trouble and 39 are dying. The de facto national language of Nigeria is English, which is spoken as a second language by 104 million of a total population of 195.9 million Nigerians. The three most prominent indigenous languages are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. Hausa is the de facto provincial language of the northern region with 53.7 million speakers, 35.8 million of whom speak it as their first language and 17.9 million who speak it as an additional language. Igbo is the de facto provincial language of the southeastern region with 29 million speakers, and Yoruba is the de facto provincial language of the southwestern region with 42 million speakers, 40 million of whom speak it as their first language and 2 million who speak it as an additional language. Nigeria is a highly multilingual society, and many Nigerians have strong attachments to their ethnic or local languages. As such, many Nigerians speak multiple indigenous languages. Multilingualism with English is less common, with more affluent Nigerians and those in urban areas tending to use English more frequently and being highly supportive of its wider use. In contrast, the use of English is much less common in rural areas and among those in lower socioeconomic brackets. The national language policy in Nigeria has been specified in a series of language provisions in the Constitution and the National Policy on Education (NPE). The most recent version of the NPE, adopted in 2013, describes language provisions throughout the document, rather than devoting a section to outlining the language of instruction policy. The NPE specifies that if the community is monolingual, the language of the immediate environment should be used as the language of instruction for the first three years of primary school and English will be taught as a subject. In Grade 4, English will be gradually introduced as the language of instruction, and the language of the local community is taught as a subject. French and Arabic are also taught as subjects from Grade 4 onward. The policy does not specify what should be done in cases where the local community is bilingual or multilingual. In addition, the 2015 National Policy on Special Needs Education in Nigeria declares that the federal and state governments will be responsible for coordinating training in both Sign Language and Braille to ensure that the needs of students with disabilities are met. However, both Sign Language and Braille are not specified as official languages of instruction for students who are deaf or hard of hearing or with visual impairments, and it is unclear the degree to which this policy has been implemented. The linguistic context of Nigeria is complex, with many languages spoken across the country. The de facto national language is English, but the three most prominent indigenous languages are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. The national language policy specifies that if the community is monolingual, the language of the immediate environment should be used as the language of instruction for the first three years of primary school and English will be taught as a subject. However, the policy does not specify what should be done in cases where the local community is bilingual or multilingual.