Thread by @DigiAfricanLang

So, here’s a question I’ve asked in Nigeria for a while without a good response: why do our Heads of State speak English when they’re abroad?

I ask, of course, because 1. When they’re shown on foreign TV, their speeches/interviews, are usually close-captioned for the local (English-speaking audience).

2. Other presidents (see Merkel, Putin, Abe, Kim Jong Un, etc) who are also competent in English usually respond in their languages when interviewed in English.

3. Being abroad in front of a global audience is a good chance to showcase your own language (or language diversity)* in the eyes of the world, provide jobs for Nigerian translators in those countries.

So why do our leaders speak English to the foreign press who struggle to understand them anyway?

There are a few usual answers. One is the reality of Nigeria’s language diversity. What language should the president use?

A fear of exclusion. Why would he/she speak one Nigerian language when many would not understand what he/she is saying?

Another unstated reason is that speaking English shows us as ‘educated’ global citizens. This is foolish, of course, as I discussed in an earlier thread.

Nobody thinks Merkel is uneducated because she listens to interview questions in English and responds in German. Nobody thinks Putin is uneducated by responding in Russian. So why would they think Buhari is uneducated by responding in Hausa, his country’s language?

So the likely reason is that ethnic suspicion I mentioned earlier: the argument that having one of the country’s language used outside the country is unprofessional, since not everyone in the country speaks it. I’ll discuss why I think that’s counterproductive.

I’ve pointed to the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) as one proof that the use of English isn’t the magical harbinger of unity. Both factions spoke English. Both leaders were Oxford-educated. None of our political conflict is made easier because we all speak English as L2.

In Great Britain, the reasons the Scots want to leave isn’t because their language identity has put a chip on their shoulder. The Welsh appear to be even more welded to their language identity, and they’re not agitating to leave the union. So the language isn’t the problem.

All political issues have their underlying causes and potential solutions. We have ours, and we can solve them if we’re committed to them, whether or not we all speak one unifying language (which, in any case, doesn’t have to be English).

Now, since 1999, we’ve had presidents who spoke Yorùbá (1999-2007), Hausa/Fulani (2017-2010), Ijaw (2010-2015), and again Hausa/Fulani (2015-date).

So, there would have been no real hegemony. Each language would have had the same fair shot at international exposure.

Now to the argument that listeners at home would be alienated, that just makes no sense, since — as is done for Putin, Merkel, Abe, Un, etc, there’s usually a translator present to render the responses to English for the camera. We all speak English, right? Problem solved.

On the upside, we get these:

1. Renewed visibility for Nigeria’s multilingualism.
2. Temporary jobs for Nigerian translators abroad.
3. National pride for speakers of these language at these few opportunities.
4. No more heavy Nigerian English accents that need close-captioning

And our politicians who, typically, speak their own languages more comfortably than they speak English anyway, get a better chance to express themselves to their hosts.

[And personally, I get a chance to hear what many of our languages — we have over 400 — sound like on TV]

*Nigeria has over 400 languages. And, because of the aforementioned issues in policy, etc, many of them stand no chance in the spotlight. Until 2010, Ijaw was one of those languages. But because the president never spoke it in public, we lost a chance to hear and celebrate it.

And oh, for the love of God, why do the Ọọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀ or Emir of Kano speak English ANYWHERE, much less when they’re abroad???

Shudders.

Correction: Gowon went to the University of Warwick (but only after being overthrown).

PS: Everyone has pointed out to me -- as if I needed reminding -- that English is our 'official' language (some wrote it in caps, so I can understand. lol). Sorry I forgot to mention that the whole purpose of this thread is to interrogate that much-celebrated convention.