History Of English Language In Nigeria
English is the official language in Nigeria was made so to unite the country linguistically and culturally. It is chosen to be the official language partially because people of some parts speak English because of the colonies ruled by the British which came to an end in the year 1960. |
Although many ethnic groups prefer communicating in their native languages as the official language is English, it is used in education, official purposes and business transactions. English is spoken by the urban populations but still the rural population of the country speaks the native languages like Igbo and Yoruba. The Nigerian Pidgin English which is called as broken or Pidgin English is popular which differs in different regions influencing the slang and dialect. Pidgin English is used in the Niger delta regions in Sapele, Warri, Port Harcourt, Ewu, Benin City, Agenebode.
Before the arrival of British, in the start of the 19th century, education was of two types in Nigeria. In the north, where Islam was dominating, the education was religious. In every Muslim society, a Mallam taught starting from 5 year old children the Arabic alphabet and Quran.
At the time of the colonial period, the cities which were large introduced mathematics and science in the Islamic schools. In the year 1913, the Islamic schools were spread out all through the north and the number gone up to 19,073 and the student population was 143,312. In 1970, the Islamic religious leaders took control over the Islamic schools and in the 1990s they got the permission to run independently.
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