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The Religious Language and the Challenges of Insecurity in 

Nigeria 

 

Benjamin Chukwunonso Nwokocha 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. 

nwokochabenjamin@gmail.com, bc.nwokocha@unizik.edu.ng  

 

   

Abstract 

This study discussed and analyzed what constitutes religious 

language and how it can help to reduce or heighten the insecurity 

challenges in Nigeria. Given to the present security challenges 

facing the country, this study analyzed the role which religious 

languages have played either as instrument of nation-building or as 

a tool for instigating insurrections, conflicts, and ethnic disputes 

which adversely affect the national development in Nigeria. 

Specifically, the study explored the meaning of religious sentences 

and utterances. Religious sentences are generally taken to have a 

religious subject matter; a religious utterance in speech or writing 

of a token religious sentence. In  Nigerian Multilingual context, with 

emphasis on the diversities of languages amongst the various ethnic 

nationalities in Nigeria, religious subject matters could encompass 

a variety of agents, states of affairs or properties-such as God, 

deities, angels, miracles, redemption, grace, holiness, sinfulness 

among others. Most attention, however, has been devoted to the 

meaning of what people say about God. An attempt is made in this 

study to ascertain the authenticity of such sayings.  The study also 

investigated the existing dividends of multi-lingualism in Nigeria in 

terms of intra-ethnic group relations as regards to the use of 

religious language. However, following the findings of this study, 

the researcher recommended that Nigerian religious leaders should 

mailto:nwokochabenjamin@gmail.com
mailto:bc.nwokocha@unizik.edu.ng


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be mindful on their usage of religious language so as not to instigate 

violence. The scope of religious language and discourse should be 

construed in such a way that it would not be castigating, hateful, 

abusive or insulting to one another; being that Nigeria is comprised 

of multiple religions. It is hoped that this will help in reducing the 

incessant insecurity challenges in Nigeria. 

Keywords: religion, language, insecurity, nation-building 

 

1. Introduction  

Crises in Nigeria particularly, religious crises have affected the 

growth and development of communities and people in particular 

and economy in general. Many lives have been cut short, properties 

worth millions of Naira destroyed while many innocent Nigerians 

are displaced and turned refugees in their father’s land. Most of this 

crises and insecurity challenges are caused by some religious 

utterances which instigate violence and strife against the various 

religious groups in Nigeria (Okpanachi, 2010). Nigeria is a multi-

ethnic society consisting of about 340 ethnic groups. This means 

that in terms of social relations, one of the sociological problems of 

building Nigeria as a nation is ethnic and religious crises. Religious 

and ethnic nationalism has led to conflicts about control of state 

power, unequal allocation of resources, citizenship issues, state 

collapse, economic decline and ethno-religious clashes. Nigeria has 

been pushed hither and thither by recurrent crises of regional or state 

illegitimacy, often impairing efforts at economic transformation, 

democratization, national cohesion and stability (Osaghae and 

Suberu 2005). With this continental background, this research work 

seeks to examine the relationship between religion, ethnicity and 

conflict in Nigeria, focusing mainly in the south-east region of the 



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country. The study seeks to ascertain the extent of which conflicts 

are emanating from religious sources. 

Furthermore, with the numerous ethnic groups and well over 

450 languages, Nigeria is a multi-lingual and multi-cultural country 

where diverse culture and religions coexist. All the ethnic cultures 

are greatly influenced by their respective religious systems and each 

religion has its distinct religious language by which the adherents 

communicate with their Supreme Being or deity.  This religious 

diversity contributes to her rich heritage and at the same time mares 

its growth as a nation. In Nigeria, people of an ethnic group are 

indentified by their religion and languages spoken and practiced in 

their community. For instance, the three largest ethnic groups which 

include Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo speak the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo 

languages and as well practice Christian, Islam and African 

Traditional Religion respectively. Other large groups as Edo, Ijaw, 

Ibibio, Efik, Kanuri, Ebira, Nupe, and Tiv are predominantly 

Christians and Traditionalists. The micro minority groups like 

Ishekiri, Urhobo, Idoma, Igala, Isoko, Fulani, the Ikwere among 

others are partly Christians and partly Muslims. Moreover, English 

and indigenous languages are used side by side amongst these ethnic 

nationalities in Nigeria whereas Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo are 

predominantly spoken and used as means of communication in the 

regions where they are located. Though some forms of linguistic 

homogeneity exist in some parts of the North, West and East, there 

are a handful of heterogeneous linguistic groups in small, minority 

speech communities with a variety of dialects.  This could be said to 

contribute to the inability of the country to design national language 

policy. The fear of marginalization of the minority groups by the 

majority groups is mainly responsible. 

However, recent studies on religious identity have 

underscored the positive function of religion and language in 



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promotion of peace. On the other hand, mobilization of identity has 

been used to incite political groups to struggle and religious groups 

to legitimize wars and various modes of brutal and violent acts 

(Alger, 2002). Religious practice is a belief system that is practiced 

among individuals of different ethnic groups within a political 

system where language and culture are the most prominent 

attributes. The formations of religious language within a cultural, 

political and ethnic space are ways in which religion interacts with 

the socio-cultural orientations of the people. Thus, the distribution 

of these languages is directly proportional to both religious and 

socio-political power, and therefore the language group to which 

one belongs defines his/her status in society. Missionaries and local 

politicians created standard languages and hoped they would 

homogenize language and ethnicity, and create more harmonious 

ethnic identities. For example, during the colonial and post-colonial 

era, the administrators allowed the emergence of “us” versus “them” 

syndrome, where Muslims were pitted against Christians, 

Northerners against the Southerners, Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and 

Igbo against each other, and so on (Adefemi, 2003). In this era, 

religious and ethnic differences have become prominent factors in 

instituting and executing socio-economic strategies and 

applications.  

Apparently, Nigeria does not have a language policy. The 

constitution nonetheless states that the National Assembly must 

conduct its affairs in English. The constitution also allows the use of 

indigenous languages in addition to English in the state house of 

Assembly. Moreover, the role of English as a dominant language to 

a large extent could be said to be one of the causes of language 

regression in Nigeria. Nigerians do not only prefer English to their 

domestic languages, they believe that the later are limited in scope 

and usefulness. On this fact Oluwole (2001) argues that the extent 



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to which one language or type of language is favoured or preferred 

depends on the community’s perception of the role or status of that 

language or language type in the context of the prevailing linguistic 

attitudes in the society. It could also be said that the spate of 

religious and ethnic crises in some parts of the country, as well as 

religious bigotry and ethnic cleansing which has led to disharmony 

and disintegration, could account for a change in communication 

patterns. Where people are continuously fleeing from one part of the 

country to another, the tendency will be to adopt and acquire new 

speech acts.  This affects the overall development of Nigeria in 

following ways such as having some cases of multi-ethnic vices 

such as allegiance to ethnic group, intra-cultural and inter-ethnic 

antagonism, hostility, aggression, bitterness and hatred which have 

not augured well in developing an egalitarian and a virile nation. 

Following the above findings, it is discovered that the central causes 

to the under listed problems in Nigeria is the diversities of religious 

languages of the multifarious religious groups in the country. This 

has increased and exaggerated the rate of insecurity in diverse ways.  

1.1 Conceptualization of Religious Language and Insecurity  

A religious language can be described as religious sentences and 

utterances; religious language in the sense that they are generally 

taken to have a religious subject matter. It is also described as a 

religious utterance because it is the production in speech or writing 

of a token religious sentence. It encompasses such words as God, 

deities, angels, miracles, redemption, grace, holiness, and 

sinfulness. In a nutshell, religious language is devoted to the 

meaning of what we say about God. Such languages would be from 

a linguistically distinct community that has been settled unto certain 

conceptions and belief about God. It can also be described as a 

systematic means of communicating the people’s understanding of 



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God by the use of words or conventional symbols. Religious 

languages are patterned based on the people’s worldview and 

philosophical conception of God. These are languages construed 

according to the aboriginal perception of a certain religion practiced 

by a certain people. For example, what constitutes religious 

language for African traditional religion may not apply in 

Christianity and in other religions. 

Once a language becomes associated with religious worship, 

its believers often ascribe virtues to the language of worship that 

they would not give to other language even their native tongues. 

Religious or sacred language is vested with a solemnity and dignity 

that ordinary languages lack. Consequently, the training of priests in 

the use of religious language via Greek, Hebrew and less often Latin 

has become an important cultural investment, and the use of such 

languages is perceived to give them access to a body of knowledge 

that untrained lay people cannot have. The sacred languages 

typically preserve characteristics that would have been lost in the 

course of language development.  However, only very few of these 

languages have written forms. A number of languages have been 

used as religious languages. They include: classical Arabic for 

Muslims who believe it to be the only language of Qur’an. It differs 

from the various forms of contemporary spoken Arabic. The core of 

the Hebrew Bible is written in classical Hebrew referred to by some 

Jews as the “Holy Language”. Hinduism is traditionally considered 

to have one liturgical language, Sansktrit. The churches which trace 

their origin to the apostles have continued to use the standard 

language of the few centuries after Christ’s Ascension. These 

include: Latin in Roman Catholic Church, Greek in Greek Orthodox 

Church and Greek Catholic Church, Coptic on the Coptic Orthodox 

Church, English for the Western Protestant churches mainly in 

England and Syriac in the Syriac Churches (Buswell, 1997).   



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Insecurity refers to a state of being uncertain about one thing 

or the other, which may include job, protection, food, health, shelter, 

career, emotions, feelings, government or livelihood. It is a state of 

being doubtful which could be influenced by decisions, suspicions, 

opinions, actions, attitudes, responses and counter-responses. In the 

context of this paper, insecurity refers to the state of lawlessness, 

instability, anxiety, and exposure to danger caused by social vices 

such as terrorism, crime, kidnapping, killings and maiming, 

religious and extra-judicial killings. Insecurity in this context also 

includes, loss of lives, property, and business, terror and huge fear 

of sudden danger, community violence, harassment, emotional 

insecurity and threats as well as blatant divisions or disputes among 

ethnics, religious sects and groups, as many as such cases that are 

found in Nigeria. 

 

2. Literature Review on the Meaning and Problems of 

Religious Language in  

 Nigeria   

For proper appreciation of this work, it is necessary to review some 

literatures on what have been written or expressed concerning the 

meaning and problems of religious language. Through the process 

of reviewing the previous studies on the subject matter, gaps 

uncovered would be indicated. Ugwu (1996) holds that religious 

language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of 

communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily 

produced symbols. Ndukwe (2009) views it as a system of arbitrary 

vocal symbols by which the members of a religious society interact 

in terms of their religious beliefs and expressions. Madu (2003) 

argues that it is the institution whereby humans communicate and 

interact with the divine or spirit beings by means of habitually used 

oral-auditory symbols. However, the roles of religious language in 



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the inter-connectivity of the finite and infinite beings are suggested 

above. The use of religious language in divine rituals and worship 

illustrates its relationship with beliefs and mind sect (Chomsky, 

1998) .Abrams and Greenhawt (2020) affirms that the wrong use of 

religious language during the Covid-19 lockdowns in Nigeria 

worsened the effect of the pandemic on the people. 

However, the literary genres above maintain that proper use 

of religious language would integrate religion with language of a 

given people. The over estimation of the value of foreign tongues in 

religious worship is rather overwhelming and is having some 

negative effects amongst the various religions in Nigeria. The reason 

for this stemmed from the acceptance of foreign languages by 

Africans in attending to almost all their affairs. This is evidenced by 

Bangbose (1970) that Nigerians have learnt to adore, and perhaps 

overestimate the value of foreign tongues. Mbagwu and Obiora 

(2015) further pointed out that there are hardly any African countries 

that have indigenous languages as official languages in both 

religious and civil matters. Kenya and Tanzania are one evidence, 

Nigeria is another, in fact, in the colonial times there was heated 

argument especially among the C.M.S group on the translation of 

the Book of Common Prayer (B.C.P) in indigenous languages. It 

was Henry Vein, the Secretary General of the C.M.S that came up 

with his theory of self-supporting, self-reliance and self-governing 

of the African churches that settled the matter (Ezenwa, 1997). The 

point here is that it is the level of value attached to a given language 

that makes it religious or sacred, civil or official. This argument is 

in line with Akao (1999) as he posits that the ancient language like 

Hebrew and Greek were taken to be religious based on the people’s 

acceptance. Ugwu and Ugwueye  (2002 affirms that Hebrew 

language was the only language that united Jews diachronically and 

synchronically, through time and space. He observes that it was their 



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daily usage of it in both the religion and secular matters that earned 

it such a universal acceptance. Coke (2000) adds that apart from 

Hebrew as a religious language, other languages could earn, such a 

universality based on the people’s appreciation of it. Boktin (1999) 

further insists that no particular language is termed “religious by 

God”. He further argued that every language speaks the mind of 

God. 

Based on the above background, one can envisage the 

opportunities offered for man to communicate his feelings, opinions 

with the transcendental beings in one’s own language. In the course 

of interacting with divine beings in one’s peculiar language, man 

acquaints himself/herself with divine messages which he/she in turn 

relates to his/her immediate environment. When people are deprived 

of the use of their language, they lose their self-identity enshrined in 

their belief and traditions. This does not restrict the knowledge and 

the use of other languages. In this case, religious language can be 

said to unite its users because people who speak the same tongue are 

likely to be closer and friendlier than others who do not understand 

a common language of communication. This is seen clearly where 

people of diverse dialect converge in a place. Religion has such a 

binding force that it sometimes supersedes that of siblings. In fact 

some Christian conservatives and Christian denominations address 

one another as brother, sister or even elder.       

However, the languages of Nigeria are classified into three 

broad linguistic groups: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-

Asianic (Akao, 1999). He further states that the huge Niger-Congo 

group is further subdivided into nine major branches, including the 

Kwa subgroup, spoken in the extreme southwestern corner of the 

country; the Ijoid branch, spoken in Niger Delta region, the Atlantic 

subgroup, which most notably includes Fula; the extensive Benue-

Congo subgroup, which includes Tiv, Jukun, Edo, Igbo, Igala, 



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Idoma, Nupe, Gwari, Yoruba, and several languages of the Cross 

River basin such as Awak, Waja, Waka, and Tula, spoken in the 

northern Nigeria. The Nilo-Saharan group is represented in Nigeria 

principally by Kanuri, although speakers of Bagirmi and Zerma are 

also present in the country. Afro-Asianic is a much larger linguistic 

group and comprises of Hausa, Margi, and Barde, among others. 

Some peoples (such as the Fulani and the Tiv) are relatively recent 

immigrants, but, on the basis of modern linguistic research, it is 

thought that the great majority of Nigerian languages and 

specifically the Kwa subgroup have been spoken in roughly the 

same locations for some 4,000 years. Hausa is widely spoken in the 

northern states of Nigeria. In addition to English, Hausa, Yoruba, 

Igbo, and Fula, are also widely spoken in Nigeria. Many of these 

languages exist in written form. These languages can be further 

developed to ensure unity and security of its users.  

3. Using Religious Language to Ensure Peace and Stability 

in Nigeria    

Religion and language individually or collectively can be strong 

determining factors for employment, admission into schools, 

marriage and a whole lot of other cooperation, unions and 

solidarities. It is because Nigerians have not exploited the benefits 

of language that it is being used for negative purposes. Many have 

used language in the past for the destruction of lives. Some have 

used religion and language to hide the truth from the people; a 

situation whereby religion and language are employed to cause 

confusion, disunity and war in the country.  However, to understand 

religious language which falls under what Crapo (2002) calls  

“restricted code” is not easily decoded especially if one is not an 

insider. What this implies is that the peace and unity of any people 

is guaranteed when they understand and appreciate their individual 



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language in all spheres of life. This is why Spolky (1999) maintains 

that religious adherents express and identify themselves with their 

faith and religious consciousness. He goes further to state that to 

relinquish the people’s language from their religion is to literarily or 

symbolically relinquish a significant and powerful dimension of 

practical religious identity. This is collaborated in the words of 

Anzadua (2000), who categorizes religion and language as a “twin 

skin” to religious identity, and says “language is religion and 

religion is language”. This relationship of language and religion is 

best examined from the historical perspective of Abrahamic 

religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam.      

Apart from the meaning of language in religious perspective, 

scientific and archaeological discoveries are also expressed in 

language. Every kind of idea or feeling is given through the medium 

of language. Most natural, religious ideas are also represented as 

language. As a result, religion has developed its own register and 

consequently generated some peculiar text-variety (Bhatia, 2006).  

Following this development however, the researcher understands 

that ineffective communication is responsible for most 

unsatisfactory situations that dominates all the facets of the 

country’s life.  This as a matter of fact has heightened ethnic tensions 

and insecurity owing to status and adoption of certain languages that 

are not familiar to the people especially at public and religious 

functions. From the purview of Dukor (2003), the use of religious 

language must conform in a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by 

which members of a religious community cooperate and interact. 

Religious language therefore, does the primary function of 

externalizing and objectifying thought processes and belief system. 

Nonetheless, the secondary functions of religious language are not 

less significant. These are stimulative, descriptive and 

argumentative functions (Popper, 1963). A people develop a 



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language appropriate to their needs and environment. Such language 

serves them as a medium of communication, the transmission of 

knowledge, religion, culture and values, and for the articulation of 

their worldview. In this regard, various languages can be said to be 

equal in so far as each serves adequately the fundamental language 

needs of its linguistic group. However, the outstanding challenges 

occasioned by not using language in the right sense of it include: 

1. Retarded economic development: The low economic status 

of the country’s life could be attributed to the ineffective 

communication owing to the multifarious languages in the 

country. Economic policies are formulated in English 

whereas the implementation of the said policies is not only 

for the elites but for all and sundry including those who are 

not lettered in English language. Incidentally, those illiterate 

ones constitute a greater part of the population and their 

illiteracy in English creates the difficulty in the 

implementation of the policies, especially the ones on 

agriculture and small scale industries, which largely concern 

them. Moreover, in the use of sacred languages in a religious 

worship, there are phrases or statements that could be labeled 

as religious sayings. Having a conversation about the cost of 

things in the market or about poverty in the society is nothing 

unusual. Each is a topic directly related to everyday 

experience and is often referred to as everyday language. If 

the conversation is to turn to discussion about God or Virgin 

Mary or Angels, then the language drifts from the everyday 

to religious, mysterious, sacred or metaphysical. Many doubt 

the truth of such statements, and if not clarified may spark 

off crises and religious violence. 

2. Poor education: One of the challenges of education in 

Nigeria revolves around reading and writing in native 



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languages. Given the adoption of foreign language in 

schools amongst the local communities, it hinders promotion 

of vernacular literacy.  It would be impossible to acquire a 

religion without the medium of language especially the 

indigenous language. Because what is said may particularly 

condition what can be thought, the use of such speech pattern 

will have subtle psychological effects on the speakers. 

Religion, like language, has testified to be easily learned by 

children. Religion is acquired by language. Religion is 

taught literarily early from one’s mother’s knees, and 

religious faith infused early in life.  Hence, there is need for 

good and quality childhood education to facilitate the good 

and efficient use of language in both religious and civil 

matters. With good and quality education in the country, 

there will be a clearer understanding of the real meaning of 

religion as well as its values, beliefs and ritual practices. In 

this way also, some religious jargons and hate speeches that 

often create enmity will be reduced  A sound academic 

learning will discourage hate speech and promote a lovely 

and friendly interactions like; “we are one in Christ”, “we 

are all the children of God”  

Most of the perpetrators of crimes in the country are mostly drop 

outs and less informed members of the public. In fact, illiteracy 

alone can lead to restiveness. An adage has it that half education 

is a disease. Because some of them could not express themselves 

in English language or understand the government economic 

policies as well as the overall system of government and 

religious message which are documented in English, they tend 

to misinterpret the government political policies, and by that 

implication organize themselves to stage violent 



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demonstrations. It is also understood that because of the fact that 

majority of the members of the religious groups are illiterate in 

English (in the case of Christianity) and Arabic (in the case of 

Islam); they hardly receive appropriate religious information 

given to them in those languages. 

3. Poor health and mortality rate: Health workers are trained in 

English. Again, information about health matters is 

disseminated in English. The illiterate masses certainly have 

a problem with adequately and appropriately understanding 

the information. Nwaozuzu (2002) laments: “The situation 

where a people’s health is dependent on the information 

passed on to them through a foreign language, is, to say the 

least, undesirable, taking into consideration the percentage 

of the populace who can comprehend and speak such 

languages”(p.65). Undoubtedly, this situation has brought 

about most of the masses patronizing native, quack and 

witch doctors who speak the language of their 

understanding. The result of this would always lead to poor 

health and mortality rate. 

3.1 Addressing the Challenges of Insecurity using Religious 

Languages   

The writer believes that if the following recommendations are taken 

and applied, would considerably reduce language barriers in the 

country. It will enhance effective communication which will in turn 

reduce the unbridled tensions and insecurity occasioned by the 

multifarious factors in Nigeria. Effective communication will be 

enhanced which will in turn reduce the unbridled tension and 

insecurity occasioned by the multifarious factors in the country.    

a) Being cautious in the use of certain languages in religious 

worship 



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 Many religions have sacred languages that are mostly unintelligible 

to the laity. These vulgar and unintelligible languages often times 

instigate violence. An example is the phenomena of Glosolalia 

(speaking in tongues). This is the production of sound sequences 

that have no conventional meanings in speech which often occurs 

during ecstatic trance states. In Nigeria for example, glosolalia is 

commonly associated with Pentecostal churches where it is 

understood as a gift of the spirit in which the speaker is believed to 

be either praising God in angelic language or is into a spiritual 

warfare. These utterances when misinterpreted can lead to crises in 

families or between one another. It is important that religious leaders 

should adopt clear and common language in administering to their 

congregations. 

b) Establishing an active national language commission 

Nigeria urgently needs to establish an active National Language 

Commission with branches at states and local government levels 

throughout the country. The primary objective of this body should 

be to serve as a databank on all language-related matters. It will 

advise the federal and other governments, as well as other relevant 

ministries on language and religious affairs. It will also promote the 

preservation and enrichment of Nigeria’s language resources.  The 

present situation where all language matters are left in the hands of 

linguistic departments of the Nigerian universities is not 

satisfactory. A commission with multi-disciplinary committees with 

members spanning all relevant professional fields should be created. 

c) Training teachers to use the mother tongues in teaching 

 There should strategies mapped out for educational development 

through mother tongues, and adequately training of language 

teachers across the nation. Compulsory use of English for 

instruction in schools should be minimized. Teachers should be 

trained in the mother tongues of the area where a school is situated. 



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On this note Okonkwo (2008) states: “The child thinks and dreams 

in the language which was used at the time he worked his way from 

the state of infancy to that of member of language community. This 

naturally is the MT/LIC. And for this reason the MT/LIC happens 

to be the best language of schooling for intellectual development of 

the child” (p.8). Education is for human development and civilized 

life relies on language which is the basic tool for communication. 

This implies that language, religion and culture are inseparable. 

Language is the essence of religion and culture, for it constitutes the 

medium for cultural and religious transmission (Okediadi, 2009). 

That is why every Nigerian child should be tutored in his/her mother 

tongue especially within the category of pre-primary, primary and 

post-primary schools. As each of the language is by definition a 

mother tongue, in theory they all qualify to be taught as school 

subjects. It is also expedient that the three major languages, viz: 

Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba indigenous languages in the country 

should be allowed to feature in the country’s formal school system. 

However, a major setback to this fact is that the native 

speakers of these languages look down on each other language and 

this presupposes why the language teachers teaching any of these 

languages are regarded as second hand teachers including the public 

schools situated in each locality where each of these languages is the 

mother tongue. This has hampered the growth of some of these 

indigenous languages thereby marrying the sole objective of the 

language policy of Nigeria.      

d) Developing indigenous languages 

 Nigerian linguistics has done a good job on the indigenous 

languages. However, the work is not sufficient. This is because there 

are many of the languages that have received little or no attention at 

all; a situation that makes it difficult for information to be expressed 

in English. Worse still, the so called major and main languages do 



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not have enriched vocabulary to satisfy new developments in the 

world today. An example is Igbo where “Iba” is used to refer to 

malaria, hepatitis, and typhoid; an indication that users of the 

language have a problem with the foreign terminologies (Ezeuko 

and Mbagwu, 2009). The point here is that all the indigenous 

languages demand varied degrees of attention for communication to 

improve in Nigeria. However, many native speakers add salt to the 

injury by not speaking their language either in religious worship or 

person to person interaction. They see their language as inferior. 

Suffice it to say that if all the people would speak their languages to 

the young people, they would have no need for indigenous language 

curricula or for conferences to save their languages. If Nigerians can 

speak their languages, all of their languages would be healthier and 

very effective.   

e) Making Nigerian pidgin official 

The Nigerian pidgin is the language of the widest inter-ethnic mode 

of communication, especially between the members of the illiterate 

class (Mann, 1990). It is easy to acquire or learn because of its 

simple grammar, hence, its widespread use in the country. In fact, 

making it official would largely reduce ineffective communication, 

which is associated with English, the official language of the 

country. When developed, would lead to the emergence of a true 

national language, which would not be seen as foreign. If used in 

religious worship would help in reducing ambiguity associated with 

some religious expressions.  

f) Identifying communication roles English cannot play in 

the different speech 

    Communities in the country  

There are certainly some communicative roles, which English or any 

other foreign language cannot perform. Such roles are better 

performed with the use of the people’s indigenous languages. An 



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example is the blessing of Oji Igbo which is always carried out using 

the Igbo vernacular. This is the reason why the indigenous 

languages should never be relegated to the background but enhanced 

for optimum use when necessary.  

4. Conclusion 

There are many instances when language is used for quite different 

reasons ranging from expressive, communicative to descriptive 

functions. Religious languages are all about the people’s channeling 

their energies to communal religious construction. This is because 

every language entails the reflection of the people’s collective 

imagination.  Any language whether indigenous or national has the 

same functions except for coverage. A good command of a given 

language is necessary for effective communication in any human 

society. Nigeria is one of the countries in which ineffective 

communication has led to some unfavourable conditions ranging 

from religious conflicts, restiveness, retarded economic 

development, and poor education among others owing to the fact 

that people hardly understand one another. A major factor causing 

this, as has been pointed out, is underdevelopment of languages in 

religious and civil matters; a situation that justifies the adoption of 

foreign language, English as the official language. Literacy in 

English language is low and this is the main cause of insecurity in 

the country. This study discussed ways of reducing the 

aforementioned challenges and one of them is developing the 

indigenous language of the people.  

 

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