The Future of French in Nigeria's Language Policies

In a surprise announcement in December 1996 in a speech at the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, the late Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha said 'Nigeria is resolutely launching a programme of national language training that will in a short order, permit our country to become thoroughly bilingual'.(1) General Abacha's pronouncements and decisions finally led to the recognition of French as a second official language and made it compulsory in schools (see section 1, No. 10 of the National Policy on Education 1998). Following the officialisation of French in the country, several developments have taken place with regard to the promotion of the language. The present study undertakes a quantitative investigation of the attitudes of 300 educated Nigerians towards the policy. It measures their level of awareness about this policy and critically examines the implications of the policy for some language planning issues in the country. It also assesses the extent of the impact of the policy on the French language promotion in Nigeria and goes ahead to predict the future of the language in the country. Results of the questionnaire survey show that the respondents are favourably disposed towards the policy on French and have positive attitudes towards the language.