National language policy and planning: the Nigerian situation

There is no doubt that in the West African context of multilingualism, language policy as a means of achieving effective planning is essential. In the case of Nigeria, four classes of language can be distinguished according to their function as medium of communication at a national, regional or local level. The national language policy of any country should make provisions for internal, scientific/technical and international communication. In Nigeria, however, there is no national language policy and the actual situation in the area of language education, for example, is a patchwork of practices and exercise which vary from state to state. French abstract.