181 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved NIGERIAN PIDGIN IN A MULTICUTURAL NATION: CHALLENGES, REFLECTIONS AND REALITIES Queen Ugochi Njemanze1 1Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology Owerri ABSTRACT Languages in multicultural societies (such as Nigeria) have always been an issue of great concern to scholars. Nigeria is a country with linguistic fragmentation, it is made up of diverse ethnic groups with three as major groups (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) and the majority of the other groups have the minority status. The smaller ethnic groups often do not accept other tribe’s indigenous languages as a replacement of theirs. There is thus an inducement in the use of Nigerian Pidgin (NIGP) for ease of interaction/communication. Nigerian Pidgin was acquired from foreigners in an attempt to communicate with English language speakers. It was used by few people who had contact with the colonizers. Thus the contact between English and the various indigenous languages in Nigeria increased the use of this language. In order words Nigerian Pidgin developed as a result of the need for communication between two or more groups without a common language. This paper therefore examines the linguistic situation in Nigeria, the Nigerian language policy, language contact, Nigerian Pidgin and multilingualism and concludes by reaffirming the need to encourage the continuous use of Nigeria Pidgin for those in multicultural societies because every language is important and has survival right. Keywords: Nigerian Pidgin, Multiculturalism, Multilingualism, Ethnic groups, Challenges, Realities, Linguistic situation. Contribution/ Originality This study is one of the few studies which have investigated the challenges and realities on Nigerian Pidgin expansion and usage. It uses new methodology to present its emphasis on the influences of language contact in multilingual and multicultural environments. Hence there were examples of reduplications, substitutions borrowing and more. 1. INTRODUCTION The current trend of globalization has affected the rate of linguistic and cultural changes. Culture has symbiotic relationship with human language, especially in societies with very strong and robust language loyalty. Nigeria is a plurilingual nation with languages that are developed, Humanities and Social Sciences Letters 2014 Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 181-191 ISSN(e): 2312-4318 ISSN(p): 2312-5659 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 182 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved developing and underdeveloped. Most of Nigerians‟ cultural heritage is transmitted orally. Efforts have been made to document some of these oral traditions, but these, have not yielded impressive result because the language of documentation has always been the language of colonization; the English language. Because the English language is the adopted language of transmission and documentation, such traits as code-switching and code-mixing were always prominent. These traits hinder the development of indigenous languages and encourage the use and development of a simpler/abridged language of interaction represented by the Nigerian Pidgin. Multiculturalism being a system which encompasses the belief system of a particular society, acknowledges and respects the opinions of the diverse groups in the society, appreciates their values and socio-cultural differences; adopts an all-inclusive cultural context which binds them together as a group. Multiculturalism has always been associated with cultural diversity which is believed to be prone to clash of cultures and their civilization. Nigerian Pidgin has not been recognized as a language in Nigeria, but ironically it has been a “successful” bridge in sustaining the various linguistic and cultural communications in the Nigerian society. 2. OBJECTIVES The onus of multiculturalism lies in its ability to transcend all barriers and bring about a unifying force even in the „face‟ of diversity. There is an emphasis on equity and single common citizenship; which creates interrelationship between culture, language, plural identity attachments and community relationship. The thrust of this paper therefore lies on the examination of the linguistic situation in Nigeria; language Contact and Nigerian Pidgin and the challenges of multilingualism/multiculturalism in Nigeria 3. LINGUISTIC SITUATION OF NIGERIA Nigeria has been classified as the largest country in West Africa (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008). It is situated in the Western part of Africa. It has three major ethnic groups namely Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. There are also the minority ethnic groups which include Delta state, River state and Cross River state. This population made the number of indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria to be estimated between 420 and 500, Bamgbose (1992), Heine and Nurse (2000), with the number of ethnic groups ranging from 250 to 300. The multilingual setting in Nigeria is such that most of the languages have different identifiable dialects. For instance, Yoruba, a language spoken mostly in the Southwestern part of Nigeria, has the following named varieties as some of its dialects: Ijesa dialect, Ijebu dialect, Oyo dialect, Egba dialect, Osun dialect, and Ekiti dialect. Also, Igbo which is another Nigerian language has its own dialects like, Owerri dialect, Onitsha dialect, Nsukka dialect, Afikpo dialect and many other dialects. Nigeria has a high multilingual and multi-ethnic setting with diverse cultures. Among these ancestral languages, the only three recognized as indigenous national or major languages are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba (Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979). Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 183 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved Another document, apart from the Nigerian Constitution, in which the three languages are unequivocally stated as major languages, is the 2004 National Policy on Education which states that pupils should be encouraged to learn one of the three major languages other than their mother tongue in order to promote national unity. This policy assumes that learning another language apart from one‟s own language can foster unity. The multilingual setting that characterizes Nigeria at the Federal level where four languages are recognized (i.e. English, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba) also applies in many states and local government areas (LGA‟s) of the country. For instance, apart from English, other languages recognized in Adamawa State in Nigeria are Hausa and Fulfulde. Kari (2002) noted that in some LGAs in Nigeria, there are as many as four different languages being recognized. Given the linguistic diversity in Nigeria, most people grew up speaking more than one indigenous language (Akande, 2008). In Nigeria, the majority of speakers of minor languages endeavor to learn one of the major languages (sometimes in addition to English), especially the one that is dominant where they reside. And many of those who have one of the three major languages as their native language also acquire English, NIGP (Nigerian Pidgin) or another language of the country. The vast majority of Nigerians are bilinguals (Akindele and Adegbite, 2005).Based on the linguistic diversity in Nigeria, most people grow up speaking more than one indigenous language as well as Nigerian Pidgin; a language borne out of contact. 4. LANGUAGE CONTACT AND NIGERIAN PIDGIN Language contact is a dynamic and complex issue in linguistics. It can simply be described as the consequence of the use of more than one language in the same environment, and at the same time. Language contact manifests itself in diverse forms of bilingualism. The level of bilingualism in contact situation may also beget a linguistic level known as „semilingualism‟ or „interlingua‟ (Olaoye, 2007). An instance is in a university environment where people from different ethnic groups „must‟ communicate, because they must have face-to –face interactions. This type of interaction is one that involve those who speak more than one language staying in a particular environment or locality. Language contact according to Adedimeji (2004) does not just exist rather, “it is occasioned by reasons like political domination, cultural or religious affiliation, commercial transaction, educational acquisition and inter- ethnic marriages”. It can also induce, Language change, Language mixture (resulting in pidgins, creoles and bilingual mixed languages) and Language death.(Akindele and Adegbite, 2005). In Nigeria, words are borrowed to make up for the communication pressure mounted on the people (Nigerians) because of the colonial language. The colonizers were reluctant to use other people‟s language and thus enforced their language on the people. This further led to linguistic constructs like linguistic divergence; language convergence and language shift. Linguistic divergence is a deliberate attempt by speakers to maintain or increase their linguistic difference. There is a deliberate attempt to „purify‟ a speaker‟s language. This desire is predominant in Nigeria where people adopt special Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 184 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved styles of communication as in „slangs‟ in order to interact. Speakers deliberately change their speech pattern as well as reduce the effects of borrowing on their language. Language convergence is created as a result of increase in similarity of features between neighboring languages mainly due to various processes of language mixing. Language convergence is peculiar to;  Contact between two language communities who are eager to retain their native language and can only borrow relevant items to aid their communication.  Contact between speakers of adjacent languages over a prolonged period also facilitates the gradual process of language convergence  Again, contacts as a result of intermarriage or family-mixing between speech communities also facilitates language convergence.(Akindele and Adegbite, 2005; Olaoye, 2007) Contact between ethnic groups may compel one group to abandon their native language. This process of language mixing prompts language shifts; which results when immigrants learn the native language of their new environment. This is usually induced by the desire to communicate in their new environment. Issues raised above are peculiar to Nigerians, because they have greater need for communicative expediency. Nigerian Pidgin which is a product of language contact that was borne out of the desire to communicate is thus, examined below. 5. NIGERIAN PIDGIN The present socio–historical and linguistic situation in Nigeria brought about the combination of a myriad of ethnic groups which had common communicative needs. A pidgin was adopted; this is a simplified language that is created out of communication between two or more groups that do not have a common language. Nigerian Pidgin came on board through the Portuguese merchants who were the first Europeans to trade on pepper and slaves from Nigerian coastal areas.. Thus, Holm (2000) defines pidgin as; “a reduced language that results from extended contact between groups of people with no language in common; it evolves when they need some verbal communication ….”. The grammar of most Nigerian pidgin words is borrowed or transferred from each speaker‟s native language and it assumes roles other than what it was expected to be. Decamp (1971) describes pidgin as an incidental communicative language within a multilingual setting which, “is the native language of nobody”. In other words pidgin is a combination of foreign or superstrate language and the indigenous or the substrate language. However, Linguists considered certain criteria which brought an acceptable conclusion that Nigerian Pidgin is a full „fledged‟ language because it has its separate lexicons, morphological systems, syntactic structures and phonological elements. A pioneer work by Mafeni (1971) entitled “Nigerian pidgin” brought fame and excitement into the study of pidgin language. The description given to Nigerian Pidgin by Mafeni and some other researchers such as, Elugbe and Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 185 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved Omamor (1991), Mann (1996), Mann (2009), Egbokhare (2001), Deuber (2005) and more cancelled the previous belief that „pidgin‟ of any form was a debased, inferior, uncivilized and marginal form of language variety. Thus pidgins are not wrong versions of other languages but rather a new language. Nigerian Pidgin fills communication gaps in places where there is no common language between the Europeans and Nigerians. NIGP is a combination of the Nigerian indigenous languages and the English language. Pidgins are products of language contact while language contact is a product of interaction between speakers of different languages. Nigerian Pidgin is used in various contexts and by various categories of people irrespective of their educational status. This view is supported by Akande (2008) who noted; “the sociolinguistic reality in Nigeria today is such that NPE (NIGP) is spoken by university graduates, professors, lawyers and journalists. It has also been demonstrated that NPE is not used only in informal settings but also in formal settings”. Thus, the claim that NPE (NIGP) is mainly used by the non- literate is not valid because NPE (NIGP) is used by so many educated people who can use, “both the Standard English and NPE (NIGP) proficiently”. Similarly, Faraclas (2004) noted; NPE (NIGP) is spoken, today, by millions of people, especially the younger generation representing various linguistic areas of the Nigerian society” (828). This has further changed the negative perception of (NIGP) by the society. It is now seen as an indispensable tool for communication which is easier to learn, less complicated and with lesser foreign inclination than the English language. NIGP is gaining wider vitality in Nigeria despite its unofficial recognition. It is used by Nigerians who have no common language. It is proudly used by every person in Nigeria. People converge at various meeting points, and converse proudly using the Nigerian Pidgin. It could therefore be said that NIGP reflects national identity in Nigeria. Although, many linguistics and scholars have called for the official recognition of NIGP, but such requests have been turned down by the government; (see (Awonusi, 1990; Elugbe and Omamor, 1991; Mann, 1996; Egbokhare, 2001)). In recent times, the help which NIGP renders in getting close to the masses through Jingles, posters, government campaigns for national awareness is being appreciated by all, even the government who failed to accord it a place in the nation‟s constitution. The NIGP does not defame any language; in other words, neither the NIGP nor the English language, is defamed. Pidgins enjoy widespread use in informal and formal contexts; such as News broadcast, jingles, among literates who can also write the language, in comedy shows and more. Thus, this study has categorized its domains of use as follows; in informal situations, in the mass media, in religion, in literary works, in trade and commerce and maximally in the entertainment sector. The above categorization presents the picture of the prominence which NIGP usage has gained and the population of its users. It is used in many communicative domains in the Nigerian environment and the users are made up of both the educated and the non-educated population in the country. It is also evident that only few domains are restricted for Standard English usage in Nigeria. Also, in Nigeria, we now have to WAZOBIA FM 95.1 radio station in Lagos State which broadcasts news in NIGP. The acronym WAZOBIA is derived from the combination of Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 186 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved indigenous interpretation of the English word „come‟ from the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. This Radio station, devised its own writing style for NIGP in order to fill the lapse in orthography and has both educated and non-educated people as its audience. This achievement depicts wide acceptance and recognition of Nigerian Pidgin. There is also an advanced plan to open two other stations in Abuja and Port–Harcourt (Nigeria). Below is a sample of WAZOBIA news; Example I “We presido Goodluck Jonathan don tok am se I no gud mak we dey trow bomb fo choch bikos na we we, we de kill…”(Our President, Goodluck Jonathan has condemned series of bombing attacks on churches because he believes that we are killing ourselves) (WAZOBIA FM 95.1 News of16th July, 2012). Example II Topic– Boko Haram “mak dis pipul kom do dia noncens bomb 4 Naija Delta mak we tel dem say …militants and Boko Haram no be mates; … l-a-y-e. we go roast dem … fri dem ..dem no say militants senior dem. So mak dem relax…”. (The Boko Haram sect must not attempt to set bomb in any part of the Niger Delta region or else the militants will show their superiority over them) (WAZOBIA Facebook Discussion Board accessed 1st August, 2012). Nigerian Pidgin is also prominent in our church songs, thus, it is common to hear gospel songs such as:  „Dis kin God –o, I never see your kind-o, dis kin God-o, u-ar a miracle God.‟ (What a wonderful God, incomparable God, you are a miracle God)  „Abi you no know sey Jehova na God…?‟ (Don’t you know that Jehova is God)  „People dey ask me say, na wetin dey mak me fine, I just dey tell dem say, na Jesus dey make me fine…’ (People are asking for the secret of my wellbeing and am just telling them that its Jesus that has been responsible for my good looks )  ‘Satan don fall for gutter, matcham matcham …’ (satan has fallen into the gutter let us continue marching on it) However, the desire to communicate in ones environment is peculiar to everyone; both young and old. There is greater urge to embark on such communications, especially when people from different ethnic groups are in a new environment. This prompts an examination of issues concerning multilingualism and the challenges of multiculturalism in the Nigerian environment. Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 187 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved 6. THE CHALLENGES OF MULTILINGUALISM /MULTICULTURALISM IN NIGERIA Clyne (1997) in describing multilingualism sees it as “the use of more than one language” or “competence in more than one language”. In other words, multilingualism can refer to either the language use or the competence of an individual or to the language situation in an entire nation or society. According to Adegbija (2004) who lists 498 indigenous languages in Nigeria, gives three main categories of languages used in Nigeria: as follows: a. Indigenous or native languages: Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo which have been constitutionally recognized as “major” b. Exogenous or non-indigenous languages: Chief among these is English. Others are French and Arabic. Other languages like German and Russian have a restricted functional scope. c. Pidgin languages principally represented by the Nigerian Pidgin with a dual status of being indigenous as well as exogenous. Clyne (1997) goes further to state that; Nigeria‟s multilingualism is asymmetrical in the sense that some languages have more status than the others. Among the indigenous languages, the “major” languages, Hausa, Yoruba and igbo also referred to as „decamilionaires” are more functionally recognized. This recognition is based on the political and numerical strength of their speakers (more than ten million speakers) and their levels of development. The languages are referred to as “National languages” and are accorded robust place in the 1979 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as official languages for the business of the National Assembly. These languages feature at all levels of education in the country, commerce and the media. Multiculturalism on the other hand is a concept with a new orientation towards the future. There are diverse opinions about this concept. However, from the point of view of this paper; multiculturalism is a system which recognizes, adopts and appreciates the beliefs, behaviors and values of the diverse ethnic groups that make up a country/society in order to encourage continued peaceful co- habitation of the people. Multiculturalism is an attempt to accommodate the socio-cultural differences of the people. Heywood (2007) describes multiculturalism as being between two forms, the descriptive and the normative. The descriptive use refers to; „cultural diversity‟ while the normative use refers to „a positive endorsement, even celebration of communal diversity, typically based on either the right of different groups to respect and recognition or to alleged benefits to the larger society of moral and cultural diversity”. In the words of Wong (2006), it is; “the coexistence of many cultures in a society, without any one culture dominating the region. It seeks to overcome any form of discrimination such as racism”. Multiculturalism thus, indicates plurality of cultures. „Culture‟ here, refers to the totality of a group‟s way of life and the manner in which the group transmits their patterns of behaviors from one generation to the other. Multiculturalism serves as a bridge towards the reformation of national identity. Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 188 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved The needs of the present age, demands that her citizens are culturally sensitive and internationally focused so as to have a better orientation towards the future. Multiculturalism emphasizes that every individual irrespective of the race, ethnic groups/class, gender etc should be treated with equal value. This mentality encourages the expression of the diverse cultures by the various groups in the society. No preference is given to any dominant group in a country. However, reflecting on the issue of multiculturalism in Nigeria, there abound notable challenges. 7. REFLECTIONS AND REALITIES The challenges of multilingualism/multiculturalism in Nigeria; is the challenge of diversity. These concepts are riddled with myth which presents a picture of vague unity. Linguistically, Nigeria is the most complex country in Africa because the exact number of indigenous languages is not yet known. Grimes (2000) puts it at 478, Crozier and Blench (1992) 500, Ethnologue ((Grimes, 2000)) over 500. Nigeria is not alone in this, Russia is also involved, and some other countries. Bearing in mind that language is the hub around which „all‟ human activities revolves. There is need for the sustenance of a group‟s language. This has not been the case with Nigeria, because the policy recognizes only three indigenous languages irrespective of many other flourishing languages in Nigeria. Speakers of minority languages which are dominated by the major ones feel threatened; and the survival of the indigenous languages may be threatened by the dominance of the colonial languages which is used for official proposes. Another challenge is the issue of cultural diversity. UNESCO, Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO UDCD (Unesco Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity), 2002) sees cultural diversity as “one of the roots of development, understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence”. In other words the different youth organizations who feel „deprived‟ should be summoned for a dialogue. In Nigeria, there is rapid growth of ethno-cultural diversity where the different ethnics groups are agitating for one thing or the other. Such example in Nigeria is the Niger- Delta youths and the Boko-Haram group. Also the Biafra movements should not be ignored. These groups feel marginalized, exploited and neglected; there is therefore, urgent need to listen to their grievances and steps taken to redress such issues. Cultural diversity is not just a process of joining together different cultures, languages etc, it involves a pro-active attitude that should take into consideration standards, practices & principles before taking a stand point. Another major challenge of multilingualism and multiculturalism, are constant phenomenon of code- mixing and code switching. Code switching is the speaker‟s ability to switch from one language to another within a conversation whereas code mixing is the speakers ability to switch from one language to another within the same utterance. It could also happen within two distinct languages and between two dialects of the same language (see (Amuda, 1994; Myers-Scotton, 2000)). These phenomenon‟s beget borrowing, reduplication, substitution, etc as in; Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 189 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved These concepts are products of the effects of contact. These trends have encouraged the growth and development of Nigerian Pidgin which, ironically, have not received any attention from the legislators and policy makers. Borrowing as in Sources Item Meaning English Remote control Witchcraft Portuguese Palava Trouble French Boku Plenty Igbo Inyanga Show-off Hausa Aboki Friend Yoruba Tokunbo Fairly used item Reduplication as in Jaga jaga Confusable Kai kai Local gin Kabu kabu Unregistered taxi Substitution as in You no fit eat your cake com holam You cannot eat your cake and have it Person no fit bite finger wey fed am You cannot bit the finger that fed you Although Nigeria Pidgin has no official status in the educational development, and life of the nation, it is a „bridge‟ language for the people in rural/urban areas. NIGP is “more of” a language of almost „all‟ communication in Nigeria. Despite the prolific importance of NIGP, the Nigerian government does not want to accord it any recognition in its language policy. This attitude of policy makers is described by Ejele (2002) as “playing the ostrich game”; which does no one any good. 8. CONCLUSION The challenges of multiculturalism entail that a nation acknowledges the validity of the cultural expressions and contributions of the various groups. It calls for cultural orientation; whereby different dimensions of behavior that reflect norms in a country are given due considerations. Different linguistic and cultural orientation reflects varying degrees of tolerance for co-operation or confrontation (as is currently witnessed in Nigeria with the Boko-Haram). The challenges of multiculturalism require a real recognition of „diversity‟ and not just the notion of cultural differences of more sophisticated ideas which surrounds multiple identities. It should acknowledge that there is diversity of attachments and belonging. This will create better understanding and accommodation. National unity should be promoted „sincerely‟ and not the tightly-woven emotional ties which is exhibited by each ethnic group towards its values. The type of unity required in Nigeria is such that we (Nigerians) exhibit when our national teams; „the super Eagles‟, „the Eaglets‟, „the Falcons‟ etc play their matches. There is need for a complete change of attitude towards language maintenance and development by the people and the government. Policies concerning language and its recommendations should be taken seriously. Implementable and all embracing language polices and planning initiatives that would create Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 2014, 2(4): 181-191 190 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved cohesion and accommodate valuable suggestions and ideas should be adopted. Nigerian Pidgin has a better chance of being a lingua franca in Nigeria than any indigenous language. 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