Of New Englishes and and New Literacies

English in Nigeria and Nigerian English

Fr. Vice Chancellor Sir, before we dwell on new literacies which form the second major plank of this lecture, it is pertinent to provide some clarifications on two discursive points: English in Nigeria and Nigerian English. This clarification is important because some scholars would rather wish to discuss English in Nigeria and dismiss with a wave of the hand any mention of Nigerian English. To such persons, Nigerian English is a perverse version of ‘The English Language’ (if there is any such a language), and a derogatory and permissive variety of what they perceive as the English Language. First, let us underscore what constitutes the discourse of English in Nigeria from a historical, sociolinguistic, political, educational, and ideological dimensions within which to situate Nigerian English as an autonomous ‘language strand’ within the spectrum of world Englishes.
Although globally, English is about 1,510 years old, the history of English in Nigeria dates back to the 15^th century, a period which marked the early Portuguese incursion into the Gulf of Guinea spreading along the coastal areas especially Old Calabar in present day Cross River State. Historically therefore, English in Nigeria is a little over 600 years old while its real growth is just about 200 years. Awonusi (1994) identifies three phases in the development of English in Nigeria. The first phase 1400-1842 covers the period of the early European contact, the period of the slave trade to the early missionary incursion in Nigeria. It was in 1841 that the first British (English speakers) explorers entered Nigeria through the southern coastal areas. Within the first phase, we identify the now extinct ‘Negro Portuguese English’, and the emergence of the English-based pidgin (Adegbite, 2010). It is important to note that the first known evidence of written English in Nigeria is found in the Old Calabar area. Although there were copies of letters written earlier in 1783 by one chief named Egboyoung Offeong (Ekpenyong Offiong), a slave merchant of Old Calabar to Liverpool merchants, the daily diary of Antera Duke (Ntiero Duke - a high ranking Ekpe member and a slave merchant) covering 1785-1788 provide the most comprehensive written English (literacy expression) by a Nigerian as can be seen in this diary entry of Antera Duke of June 21, 1785:
at 6 a m in aqua Landing with fine morning so I go on bord Cooper and Esin go on bord Combesboch so wee com ashor after 3 clock noon I have send pund with Esin to give Combesboch for get 8 slav to pay Captin Osatam so I Done pay OSatam for all I owe and at 7 clock I Did send my Brother Egbe Young for Boostam Trad for slaves. (Aye, 2000, p.142)
This period marked extensive missionary activities, the introduction of colonial rule with the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates, and the creation of the Nigerian nation. This period coincided with the established of the first printing press in Calabar in 1846 which would boost literacy development in English as well as the establishment of the first few missionary educational institutions in Nigeria with English as the main language of instruction. The Education Ordinances of 1882 and 1896 made English the main channel of instruction and the language of official and corporate communication.
The third phase covers 1915 to the present. This period coincided with the entrenchment of colonial rule, independence, and the post-independent period with expansion in education and the institutionalization of English in Nigeria. It is important to note that following previous education ordinances, the education ordinances of 1918 and 1926 recognized English language as the “Official Language” which has remained till date in Nigeria. Within this period, Nigerians have demonstrated the use and usage of English to achieve enviable feats in many walks of life. The publication of many literary works by Nigerians, notably Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1957), the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Wole Soyinka in 1986 as well as contemporary literary achievements in literature-in-English by Nigerians all bear to the growth and development of English even if it meant the domestication of English and the appropriation of English by Nigerians as part of the growing population of the new ‘owners’ of English.
Throughout the three phases of English in Nigeria, the language has played different roles. It has been used at different times as the language of trade and contact, the language of and for missionary activities, the language of colonial administration, corporate communication, education, the language of prestige, social and political mobility, and as the language available to Nigerians of diverse ethnic identities for everyday use. Although concerted efforts have been made after independence to raise the status of Nigerian indigenous languages, English has continued in its majestic match to ‘swallow up’ other local languages in spite of its justifiably imperialistic garb and accusation. The point being made is that whether we consider the micro uses of English in Nigeria such as family, intra- and inter-communal interactions, classroom discourses, internet and other social media interactions, general education and literacy purposes, popular media (entertainment, music, film, advertisement), general mass media use, literary, law, medicine, religion, politics, and various social interactions as well as translations, there is virtually any domain of communication in Nigeria that English does not appear to be the language of choice and preference for most Nigerians.
On the national language question, I do not intend to open any debate in this lecture. Suffice it to say that among the various options canvassed for a national language ranging from adopting Pidgin English; creating/engineering artificial languages such as WOZOBIA and Guosa; selecting any of the ‘big three’ languages- Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba-; choosing any of the minority languages; or even adopting a pan African language like Swahili, allowing English remain as both the official language and the national language appears to douse all the emotions, tensions and distrusts which any of the other options present. Simply put, English enjoys the role of the language of national cohesion and integration, a role no other language appears ready to fulfill. It is therefore understandable to agree with Bamgbose (1995), Adegbite (2004a, 2010), and Jowitt (2008) that it is reasonable, given all the odds, to allow English occupy the premier position at the national level while reducing its roles and functions at the regional and local levels.
An examination of the Nigerian scenario shows that regardless of the various provisions in the Nigerian Constitution and the National Policy on Education with regard to language, the language attitude of Nigerians in spite of any other prevailing conditions, the choice and preference remains English in both personal and official domains. For instance, in the National Assembly, there is no guarantee that in the nearest future ‘adequate arrangements’ will be made to use any other language apart from English for the business of the National Assembly and the same fear goes for the various state Houses of Assembly. Even among some seemly ‘unilingual’ groups in northern, southwestern and southeastern states where Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo are spoken respectively, the provision of using any other language, in addition to English, is yet to be realized. The story is not different within the educational sector as both urban and rural schools, both public and private schools prefer ‘straight-for-English’ medium of instruction from pre-primary in spite of the language provisions in the National Policy on Education. Indeed, I had submitted that:
…the government has unwittingly pitched the English language against the three ‘major’ languages; the major languages against themselves; and the major languages against the ‘minority’ Nigerian languages. In the fierce linguistic competition coupled with the lack of a clear and implementable language policy in Nigeria, the languages are at each other’s throat and the coast appears clear for English to continue its dominance in the daily, educational, social, political and economic life of Nigerians (Egbe, 2014, p.55).
I concluded in that paper that the elite class in Nigeria including their children and wards prefer to use English as the language of choice for communication at home and that there is an emerging and growing percentage of young Nigerians who are English-speaking monolinguals in Nigeria. The implication is that the pervading use of English and the inevitability and entrenchment of English in Nigeria is certain for the foreseeable future. This conclusion leads this lecture to consider that English known as ‘Nigerian English’.
Fr. Vice Chancellor Sir, there used to be a debate as to whether there is a Nigerian English. But let me quickly point out that language is not a linguistic drug prescribed by linguists or members of any professional language association or academy. Thinking of language in that guise evokes the notion of ‘linguistic purity’, whatever purity may mean because no language is pure. Errors and indeed different forms of language disorders have helped linguists to better understand the nature of human language over and above what puritans or prescriptivists may advocate. In fact, Scheider (2003) posits pointedly that “…linguistic norms are not absolute but rather…they change, varying from one context to another; today’s norms may not be tomorrow’s usage any longer” (p.273).
Fr. Vice Chancellor, for those in the English Scholars Association of Nigeria (ESAN) formerly known as Nigerian English Studies Association (NESA), the debate – Is there a Nigerian English? - is no longer tenable or tolerable within and among members of that academic circle. Hitherto, the debate used to be between two schools of thought – the Variationists School and the Deviationists School which have generated different attitudes.
The attitude of Nigerians to English in Nigeria and Nigerian English has been adequately discussed in Jowitt (2008, 2019) using the ideological divide of the Left, the Right, and the Centre. Those to the Left of the argument are mainly the post-colonial advocates who stridently interrogate why authority in English should be eternally vested on British or American speakers of English and why they should forever be the ones to provide the norm. Whether far Left or near Left, the argument remains that new Englishes have a right to exist in the spirit of the ‘Right of Language’ and thus speakers of new Englishes have equal stake and ownership of the English they use. This is where Nigerian English finds justification. Scholars in this mould are tolerable of errors and do not seek proficiency which matches the supposed ‘external native speaker’ or what Kachru (1997) categorizes as ‘genetic nativeness’ and ‘functional nativeness’ (p.4-5) standard. Members of this group encourage the domestication of English wherever the new Englishes are found. Among this group are the anti-Received Pronunciation (RP) of spoken English advocates (See Kachru, 1985; Adetugbo, 1979, 1987; Eka, 1985; Odumu, 1987; Dairo,1988; Banjo, 1995; Adegbite, 2010 ) among others.
To the Right are those of the deviationist school who hold tenaciously to the source of the English language and are not tolerant of any other variety except the ‘Standard English’ from the imaginary ‘Queen’s Court’. Even in Nigeria, such adherents will look down on ‘American English’ as an ‘inferior’ variety compared to British English or what some call ‘English English’. For the extreme Right advocates, Nigerian English does not exist. If at all it does, then it must be seen for what it is - a deviation from the norm and whatever is called ‘Nigerian English’ is a debased version of standard British English which should not be tolerated let alone encouraged. To them, to accept Nigerian English is to accept permissiveness and such permissiveness should be dismissed as anti-scholarship and a manifestation of linguistic laziness. Disciples of the far Right abhor errors and will do everything to rebuke and punish errors. For them, errors are ‘linguistic sins’ which should be purified through appropriate ‘linguistic penance’. Their preference is for Received Pronunciation (RP) despite the fact that the so called RP in spoken English is declining in UK. Another variant of the extreme Right School is what we call the ‘Complaint Tradition’ or the ‘Falling Standard of English School”. In fact, those who generally mouth ‘falling standard of education’ fall into this sub-variant of the extreme Rightist School.
The Centre ideologues are those who acknowledge the value of linguistic description on one hand and the need for prescriptive language for the sake of teaching. In this group are those who hold that every variety of a language ought to be described to identify the features of such a language, establish norms of usage, and users of the language should work towards developing proficiency in such a language as to have appropriate mastery. In this group are those who accept that there is a Nigerian English; that we should appreciate the socio-stylistic continuum within which to classify, categorize, and codify linguistic usage such as Nigerian English; and that such codification should naturally lead to the elaboration and re-invention of Nigerian English to meet the dynamic demands of international English in an increasingly networked and globalized world. Advocates of this group hold that even within what we call Nigerian English, there are sub-varieties along defined parameters and the challenge should be to identify which variety meets national acceptance and international intelligibility. Proponents of this school identify three core varieties which are roughly categorized as follows: Variety 1 (which approximates English language use of those with not higher than primary school education); Variety 2 (which approximates those with secondary school education and above); and Variety 3 (which approximates highly educated Nigerians such as lecturers, technocrats, top professionals, etc). Jowitt (1991) collapses the three varieties into two: Popular Nigerian English (PNE) which captures Varieties 1 and 2 and Standard Nigerian English (SNE) which equates Variety 3. While PNE is good enough and meets the needs for national acceptability, it is SNE which meets both national acceptability and international intelligibility. The features of these varieties have been comprehensively described (see Banjo, 1995; Jowitt, 1991 and 2019; Okoro, 2004) amongst others.
Fr. Vice Chancellor Sir, it is to the Centre ‘party’, what I choose to call the ‘Both Party’ not the ‘Either/Or Party’; it is to this ambivalent group that this teacher finds communion. It is to advocates of Nigerian English that I find fellowship and linguistic repose so that Nigerian English is seen as a variety within the global context of World Englishes. It is to the Centre that I look forward to the emergence of what l simply call ‘Niglish’. It is to this English that my future linguistic and intellectual energies will be invested.

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