Abstract
Nigeria has over 500 indigenous languages, out of which only three (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba) are emphasized by the government in its education policy to be studied from primary up to junior secondary school level. As a result, curricula are developed in these three language subjects and books are published to meet the educational needs, translating into the gradual extinction of other indigenous languages. Unfortunately, however, serious politicking is being played within the three major languages by their original speakers, such that each of the three languages is not developing beyond the geopolitical zones where it is spoken as the primary language of communication due to unhealthy ethnocentric rivalry among the speakers of the languages. This makes it difficult to have an acceptable Nigerian language beyond the geopolitical zones where it is used as a medium of communication. Nigeria should re-trace its steps in the direction of indigenous language development through the formulation of indigenous language policy. There should also be a research and development center in the three major Nigerian languages and in all the recognized Nigerian languages that have achieved some level of codification. The government should encourage and subsidize publications in the local languages through loans to publishers and bulk purchases by the government.
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Igudia, O.E. (2023). Language Politics, Development, and Sustainability of Publishing and Textbooks in the Nigerian Languages. In: Mpofu, P., Fadipe, I.A., Tshabangu, T. (eds) Indigenous African Language Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-0305-4_3
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