Open Access
American Research Journal of English and Literature
ISSN (Online): 2378-9026
DOI: 10.46568/arjel
Language Preference and the National Language Question in the Nigeria’s National and State Parliaments
Department of English and Literary Studies, Federal University Lokoja, Nigeria.
Kaseem Oladimeji Olaniyi, “Language Preference and the National Language Question in the Nigeria’s National
and State Parliaments”, American Research Journal of English and Literature, Vol 10, no. 1, 2024, pp. 15-23.
Abstract
The study investigates the comparative advantage of Nigerian Law makers being bilinguals in a multilingual nation for
the conduct of legislative matters. In other words, it seeks to establish if bilingualism is a strength or a weakness with
the bid to conclude that law makers across the Houses of Assembly in Nigeria prefer the Language of their Immediate
Environments (LIE) to the official English Language. The study seeks to contribute to solving Nigeria’s National Language
Question, by investigating the efforts being made towards realizing the dream of having an indigenousl lingua franca in
Nigeria. The theoretical orientation of the essay is the duo of Sapir-Whorfian and Bernstein’s hypotheses. The theories
help to unravel the perception of Nigerian Senators and their preferred codes when they have to choose between their
indigenous languages or the official English language with which to communicate their ideas in the hallowed chambers.
The theory corroborates the observations made during the researcher’s visit to the National Assembly where the language
at plenary is strictly English. The research work has been able to confirm the clause in section 91 of the National Language
Policy that an indigenous language may become the official language of the country when “adequate arrangement has
been made”. We find that the English language has remained preponderantly a preferred language of the parliament.
