Aside from the diversity of languages in Nigeria which is why English is the countries offical or national language, are there any of the major languages in Nigeria that are able to be used in government, business and/or education one day? What this means is having a language used widely in its area like German in Germany is used, Mandarin in China or Cantonese in Hong Kong, or even Arabic in some of the North African countries.

Many languages grow because they are maintained by official use, but apart from Hausa, non of the other major languages are growing. Are there any Nigerian languages that speakers can be bold enough to use for education and the other things mentioned instead of English or would this be rejected because English is superior?

I think it's best to use English.
if any other language is poised to become an official language, that will be pidgin.

ezeagu:

[. . .] or would this be rejected because English is superior?

Jenifa_:

I think it's best to use English.
if any other language is poised to become an official language, that will be pidgin.

It's clear where people's thoughts and understandings lean. Quite honestly, I believe that there is a general lack of utility in Nigerian languages, but at the same time, I believe that it does not need to be that way. The languages are capable of growth, not because of official/unofficial status/usage, but because of relevancy to the community at hand.

For example, amongst the majority of my family and friends, we've slowly and gradually developed this mindset of taking our language seriously, meaning that when we're around each other, or when we're communicating with each other, we try and diminish our English as much as possible. It took a long time coming, but now, our language has now become our active medium of communication. It holds a lot of relevancy to us. This relevancy has only been around for some months, and within that time, we've noticed that new words/expressions have developed. We never took the time to sit down at some round table to discuss the coinage of a new word/expression. Instead, if ever we were in the middle of a discussion, and we came across something that we had/have no word/expression for, one of us (any of us) would just be creative then and there and fill in that hole with an expression. This could and would happen several times for just one idea/item, each 'filler' expression different from the last, until eventually one just stuck and eventually became a word. Since that time a number of new words/expressions have becoming an part of our lexicon. So, I don't believe official/unofficial status has much to do with it. Rather, I'm leaning toward relevancy.

Also, most people seem to be under the understanding that our native tongues are traditional, ancient relics that have their place in the village. In general we've come to accept and expect the general lack of the utility of our native tongues, seeing them as static and suspended in a time before our time, rather than dynamic and alive as languages truly should be. This makes the languages much less relevant to the speakers, sometimes even to the point that we could categorically state that the languages are no longer even theirs, but that of their ancestors. None of what we say belongs to us anymore. We don't own our languages. Instead, we are just mimicking ancient relics; licking leftover soup before we eventually wither away into nonexistence. All because of relevancy. To me, relevancy is number one. It is only after that that we can begin to talk about official/unofficial status, because typically languages develop official status because they are useful to being with, and they are only useful to begin with if they have a certain level of relevancy to the community in question.

A man without his own intuitive language is like an inflated balloon in d sky. When a man language dies,his instincts dies with it.Dead language freezes evolution

So true. It freezes evolution and encourages assimilation.

Most of the native languages in Nigeria are used more than English is in the communities where they are the main language, the situation is that these languages are not used in official matters like government because English is the maintained language and Nigerian languages are informal. Although the argument is that you need English as the main language to communicate with others or the rest of the country, there are many situations that a person can find themselves in a town where English would not be enough, like in a market. The most that an average market woman in a city, town or village that isn't Lagos-Port Harcourt-Abuja can speak is pidgin, even then they can't get through the day on customers speaking to them on pidgin alone, one of the reasons why working people pick up other languages when they travel to other parts of the country. There are other examples, yet the courts are in English, the news is in English (states have their news translated and this is all the people ever listen to anyway), the constitution and other important documents are only in English. The thing is, can there be a way to make these languages or the largest languages convincing enough to be made official? Would Nigerians accept their languages as that of education (imagine teaching maths in a Nigerian language), government (imagine the constitution in a Nigerian language), and administration (imagine street signs or road marks in a Nigerian language)? How can the upgrading of these languages be successfully done when considering people that have been speaking these languages a certain way for years?

This does not mean removing English.

The diversity of languages has been overcome in other countries such as Switzerland (Four official, non-English languages).

even english, french, spanish, italian etc were all initially spoken as vernacular/pidgin variations of latin (roman empire) and over time have come to take on an identity of their own as these places became independent.
that's my basis for stating that Nigerian pidgin may go the same route because as far as i'm concerned, so far as Nigeria stays together, we need a unifying language to communicate with. even if it means that yoruba, igbo etc will eventually die out as individual languages.
pidgin will incorporate parts of all these languages anyway.

Yeah if I was a governor Igbo will be an official language. Can't speak Igbo? Well expect a lower salary than ur Igbo speaking colleagues. For areas in Abia, Bayelsa, Rivers where more than 1 native languages are spoken I will make em all official.

Chinyen, is right about "relevancy" as well.

udezue:

Yeah if I was a governor Igbo will be an official language. Can't speak Igbo? Well expect a lower salary than your Igbo speaking colleagues. For areas in Abia, Bayelsa, Rivers where more than 1 native languages are spoken I will make em all official.

Chinyen, is right about "relevancy" as well.

wishful thinking.
look forward to your state becoming like many northern hausa states. disconnected and isolated from the globalized english speaking world, rampant illiteracy et al.

Jenifa, colonial mentality and inferiority is killing. Chinese, Russians, Germans, French, Japanese, Arab nations don't have English as their only official

udezue:

Jenifa, colonial mentality and inferiority is killing. Chinese, Russians, Germans, French, Japanese, Arab nations don't have English as their only official

you also have to be realistic.
mugabe kicked white farmers off his country despite the fact that black farmers do not have the skills, resources etc to take over efficiently. we know d result of that.
you can't just install a new system when you don't have something else to replace the old 'colonial' system with.  it might just make things worse even though your motives are pure.

yea you can have many official languages but you need one major one. esp for administration, education etc.
if you have scholars and administrators writing in different languages, yes you will "preserve culture" how do you expect anything to be efficient or progressive?

like i said earlier, many of those languages you mention above, if you study their history you will realize that they evolved over time. french was originally referred to as "vulgar latin" when they were conquered and became part of the roman empire. in the same way we have our own "pidgin english" as former colony of the british empire. and i'm sure those french people have their own original languages that have long died out or gotten incorporated into the pidgin latin that is called "French language" today. same way pidgin english incorporates yoruba, hausa, igbo etc.

this is why i say pidgin english may be our official language in the future (many many  many years from now of course).

all we can do is make the most of what we have.
even if we start writing in igbo you know that it was the british who created the igbo writing system right? based on latin alphabet that the british inherited from their own colonizers lol
so can u then say that igbo writing also perpetuates colonial mentality?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsibidi
^this is supposed to be more indigenous igbo writing.

Jenifa_:

even english, french, spanish, italian etc were all initially spoken as vernacular/pidgin variations of latin (roman empire) and over time have come to take on an identity of their own as these places became independent.
that's my basis for stating that Nigerian pidgin may go the same route because as far as i'm concerned, so far as Nigeria stays together, we need a unifying language to communicate with. even if it means that yoruba, igbo etc will eventually die out as individual languages.
pidgin will incorporate parts of all these languages anyway.

Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, etc, are not dying, they're staying in the area that they are native to. The example of Rome and cultures that have old ties to it does not compare to a Germanic language taking over Niger-Congo languages, it hasn't even happened in Angola yet.

Jenifa_:

you also have to be realistic.
mugabe kicked white farmers off his country despite the fact that black farmers do not have the skills, resources etc to take over efficiently. we know d result of that.

That doesn't relate to using your own language. And the majority of those white farmers speak Afrikaans more than English.

Jenifa_:

you can't just install a new system when you don't have something else to replace the old 'colonial' system with.  it might just make things worse even though your motives are pure.

If you've visited Nigeria and travelled around out of Lagos, you would know that the majority of Nigerians cannot speak English fluently or properly, not even in the 'richer' south. The languages that are used most often are the native languages, even in English classes in state schools you may here native languages being used. There is no system to replace, rather, it is a question of how these languages can be promoted to official use in official situations so that native people who will never meet a foreigner for a job can understand what is written on their street signs, constitution, courts, ect. This is not how to make English disappear.

Jenifa_:

yea you can have many official languages but you need one major one. esp for administration, education etc.
if you have scholars and administrators writing in different languages, yes you will "preserve culture" how do you expect anything to be efficient or progressive?

Like noted before, this isn't how to make English disappear. Have you asked yourself how Europeans (including North America) and Asians have the highest institutions in the world despite almost every country on these continents having several different languages that are not English? Did you know that there are other languages that are used in Spain for example (Catalan, Basque, etc)? If scholars want to share information or if there is a federal situation, then it's fine to use English, or like how some people are suggesting Swahili, but in the state level where people mix the English with their native languages anyway, each state can have their own languages used.

Jenifa_:

like i said earlier, many of those languages you mention above, if you study their history you will realize that they evolved over time. french was originally referred to as "vulgar latin" when they were conquered and became part of the roman empire. in the same way we have our own "pidgin english" as former colony of the british empire. and i'm sure those french people have their own original languages that have long died out or gotten incorporated into the pidgin latin that is called "French language" today. same way pidgin english incorporates yoruba, hausa, igbo etc.

Hong Kong, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka and other places were colonised by Britain, but many of them have a native official language or multiple official used languages (like Canada). Nigeria's situation is not like that of Old France and Rome. Most Nigerians do not speak English or pidgin English in place of their languages, most Nigerian languages are not being replaced by English, most Nigerian languages are not a result of English mixed with native languages, most Nigerians are not looking to replace their languages with English or pidgin.

Rome did not last only a few decades in France, it lasted a few hundred years with the Romans and Roman law as the head of the society.

Jenifa_:

this is why i say pidgin english may be our official language in the future (many many  many years from now of course).

There's not trend showing that this is happening. That is, in the main areas where these languages are being spoken.

Jenifa_:

all we can do is make the most of what we have.
even if we start writing in igbo you know that it was the british who created the igbo writing system right? based on latin alphabet that the british inherited from their own colonizers lol
so can u then say that igbo writing also perpetuates colonial mentality?

It wasn't the British, it was Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the current Onwu script was created in the 60's by a committee of Nigerians.

If you've visited Nigeria and travelled around out of Lagos, you would know that the majority of Nigerians cannot speak English fluently or properly, not even in the 'richer' south. The languages that are used most often are the native languages, even in English classes in state schools you may here native languages being used. There is no system to replace, rather, it is a question of how these languages can be promoted to official use in official situations so that native people who will never meet a foreigner for a job can understand what is written on their street signs, constitution, courts, ect. This is not how to make English disappear.

ah I see your point now.
I thought you are trying to get rid of english. then I would say that is a very wishful thinking.