• Home
  • Bio
  • Media
    • Read
    • Watch/Listen
  • Speaking
  • Work with me
  • Contact

MsAfropolitan

FEMINISM. PAN-AFRICA. SOCIAL CRITICISM. DIASPORA. CULTURE.

  • feminism
  • Africa
  • Pop Culture
  • Social Criticism
  • decolonisation
  • Afropolitanism
  • seven
  • Sensuous Knowledge
    • Sensuous Knowledge references and recommended reading
    • International
    • Sensuous Knowledge news
  • Other Books
  • The MsAfropolitan Philosophy Book Club @ Waterstones

In order to decolonise democracy, an indigenous economics of language must thrive

May 27, 2018 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

I strongly believe that critical thinking can transform society, so I was captivated when I recently came across the National Policy on Education and discovered that it begins with a section titled “The Philosophy and Goals of Education in Nigeria.” I swooned as I continued to read the sub-section titled, “The Overall Philosophy of Nigeria.” How encouraging that the stakeholders behind the policy facilitated a thought process to establish the shared values of the country.

However, my positive mood changed when I came to the section that states the five main goals for Nigeria as follows:
(a) a free and, democratic society;
(b) a just egalitarian society;
(c) a united, strong and self-reliant nations;
(d) a great and dynamic economy;
(e) a land full of bright opportunities for all citizens.

Of course these are all perfect scenarios to aim toward. But what immediately made me disheartened is how little is being done to meet them. As I considered the obstacles that prevent the goals from being realised, one concern struck me especially; namely that a great number of Nigerians do not speak the language in which all national policy is written. This means that even if the will to be democratic, egalitarian, self-reliant, etcetera were there, and even if most Nigerians were otherwise literate and able to access policy materials, or if someone read it to them, half of the country’s population would not understand the language in which the goals are stated in the first place.

To put it in numbers, approximately ninety million Nigerians (53% of the population) do not speak English. They can therefore not understand the National Policy of Education, or the national constitution, or hardly any political decision-making at national level for that matter.

Thus, already by goal number one – “a free and democratic society” – of the five main goals of Nigeria, the overall philosophy of Nigeria proves to be unattainable. After all, a democracy relies on the people’s ability to understand key political discussions in order to execute their votes. If ninety million Nigerians do not understand their constitution, bills and policies, or the political debates and discussions that impact their lives, then how can they be expected to vote in any other way than by utter undemocratic cluelessness.

Anyway, this need not be the end of our ambitious five goals. As my father always says, “A problem is not a problem unless it has a solution.” And there is, I believe, at least one relatively feasible solution to the problem. Translation services. Interpreters. A linguistic marketplace. An infrastructure that encourages a flourishing economics of language. Not only would an investment in such an infrastructure be politically sound, it would also be lucrative from a business perspective – Nigeria has over five hundred languages, yet a quick look online suggests that most translation services of Nigerian languages are offered by foreign translators. This needs to change.

Furthermore, it would also make sense from the viewpoint of a growing youth population. The present generation of Nigerians are possibly the most multilingual to ever have existed. Of the ninety million who do speak English, a great proportion in the cities especially are also likely to speak one or two indigenous languages. This same group of people are also, unfortunately, likely to face unemployment due to the lack of job opportunities in the country. There is an obvious opportunity to both create jobs and enhance democracy by investing in a dynamic economics of language.

One more thing: This would enable the use of English to our advantage rather than the way the English language has held us hostage for too long. English has been the most widely spoken language in Nigeria since British missionaries taught it so people could read the Bible. Once people spoke English, the colonial masters took further measures to control people’s beliefs and attitudes with a Eurocentric education. However, although the history of English in Nigeria is fraught with problems, it is not altogether dismal. English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, it enables communication between different ethnic groups and it’s also a satisfyingly complex and rich language, although that’s just my personal view. There have been suggestions to switch the official language to Yoruba which is relatively widely translated, as well as to create a new common language such as Wazobia or GBORUSA (an acronym formed from I(gbo), Yo(ru)ba and Hau(sa) languages). These projects may sound great in theory but I struggle to envision a peaceful execution of them.

What is more urgent today, is to build, provide and strengthen the linguistic marketplace of Nigerian languages. There is no excuse for Nigerians ourselves to not be at the forefront of interpreting our own languages. This will prevent indigenous languages from becoming endangered and it will allow the half of the population who do not speak English to be active citizens. It will create jobs and business opportunities. No, a dynamic economics of language will not in itself solve the problem of illiteracy and non-democracy but it will help to serve justice and encourage development. It will help imagine a future Nigeria where every citizen has a voice.

That every Nigerian has a voice, well, that should be number one of the overall philosophical goals of the nation.

This blog was initially published on the Guardian Nigeria as “Why Nigeria needs local translators”.

Image is Easy To Remember by Lorna Simpson.

Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: decolonisation, languages, Nigeria

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Feminism. African Studies. Social Criticism.

Hi! I'm Minna Salami, I'm a Nigerian-Finnish and Swedish writer and social critic, and the founder of this blog. Read my full bio here

View My Blog Posts

Subscribe to my newsletter

* indicates required

Follow My social media

Visit Us On InstagramVisit Us On FacebookCheck Our Feed

The New Institute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_ddI8Lu9k&t=7s

Sensuous Knowledge – Get the book (US version)

Sensuous Knowledge – Get the book (UK version)

Recent Comments

  • Evgen on There were no matriarchies in precolonial Africa
  • ทางเข้าเล่น joker on The challenge for western feminism in the 21st century
  • Schües on On Abortion
  • AneM on Polygamy in Africa has little to do with sex
  • Khalifa on Polygamy in Africa has little to do with sex

Archives

  • March 2023 (1)
  • February 2023 (1)
  • August 2022 (4)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • January 2022 (2)
  • December 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (5)
  • April 2021 (3)
  • March 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (2)
  • November 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (2)
  • March 2018 (2)
  • February 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (3)
  • August 2017 (6)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • February 2017 (3)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • October 2016 (3)
  • September 2016 (2)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (2)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (3)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (3)
  • October 2015 (4)
  • September 2015 (4)
  • August 2015 (3)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (3)
  • May 2015 (4)
  • April 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (10)
  • February 2015 (4)
  • December 2014 (3)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (4)
  • July 2014 (3)
  • June 2014 (3)
  • May 2014 (5)
  • April 2014 (4)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (4)
  • January 2014 (3)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • November 2013 (4)
  • October 2013 (3)
  • September 2013 (4)
  • August 2013 (5)
  • July 2013 (4)
  • June 2013 (4)
  • May 2013 (6)
  • April 2013 (3)
  • March 2013 (7)
  • February 2013 (3)
  • January 2013 (5)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (9)
  • October 2012 (8)
  • September 2012 (4)
  • August 2012 (6)
  • July 2012 (6)
  • June 2012 (5)
  • May 2012 (8)
  • April 2012 (7)
  • March 2012 (5)
  • February 2012 (4)
  • January 2012 (6)
  • December 2011 (5)
  • November 2011 (6)
  • October 2011 (6)
  • September 2011 (8)
  • August 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (5)
  • June 2011 (5)
  • May 2011 (5)
  • April 2011 (4)
  • March 2011 (7)
  • February 2011 (6)
  • January 2011 (7)
  • December 2010 (5)
  • November 2010 (9)
  • October 2010 (7)
  • September 2010 (5)
  • August 2010 (4)
  • July 2010 (6)
  • June 2010 (5)
  • May 2010 (3)
  • April 2010 (3)
  • March 2010 (1)

more articles

Black feminism and the polycrisis

March 17, 2023 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

… [Continue Reading...]

New writing on the Eco Gender Gap

February 16, 2023 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

… [Continue Reading...]

Privacy Policy

https://msafropolitan.com/gdpr

Copyright MsAfropolitan © 2023