A Socio-Historical Appraisal of the Implantation of English in Nigeria

Abstract

People without the knowledge of their past are bound to repeat their faults. A socio-historical appraisal of the Nigerian situation discloses that before the incursion of the Europeans, Nigeria was an African country in which a kaleidoscopic linguistic diversity was existing.  The implantation of English in Nigeria dates back to the nineteenth century. It was not through just a medium, rather through different media. The interest of the current researcher in this paper is to account for the different media through which English was implanted and the circumstances that led to each alongside its effect. This is a core aspect of the sociolinguistics of the Nigerian situation. The concern of sociolinguists is to trace the nature of linguistic variability and language change as they are affected by social structure.  We conclude that the implantation of English in Nigeria was not achieved over a night; rather, it was achieved through determination, pressure, patience and persistence.

Keywords: Sociolinguistics, implantation, English, History, Nigeria