Resumen de rticles Multilingualism and marginalisation: A Nigeria diversity approach
Matthew Onyebuchi Ndiribe, Sopuruchi Christian Aboh
Multilingualism in a multi-cultural setting could be a problem especially where there is a politics of winner takes all. It creates room for marginalisation especially where there is no functional system to check the excesses of the policy implementers. This study examines multilingualism and marginalisation in Nigeria politicisation. The specific objectives are to explore the different manifestations of marginalisation that underlie the concept of Nigeria entity as a result of multilingualism and to propose the danger inherent in allowing Nigeria multilingual diversity be a divisive criterion rather than being a uniting factor thereby mitigating multilingual discontent. Data are drawn from secondary sources such as textbooks, journal articles and theses. The study discovers that multilingualism that is misapplied is the harbinger of marginalisation and other ethnic conflicts in Nigeria. The findings of the paper also reveal that Northern Muslims have some advantages over their non-Muslim brothers because of their proclivity to the Arabic language. The study suggests that Nigeria’s multiple languages should be a blessing and not a curse. This research contributes to knowledge as it adapts Bodomo’s localised trilingualism to propose a model that can salvage Nigeria’s multilingual woes.
