LANGUAGE AS A VERITABLE TOOL FOR PEACE BUILDING: THE CASE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA

Authors: Oguche Sunday Arome, Bajeh Hayatu, Fasasi Olanrewaju Aminu

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In a society like Nigeria, which is multilingual and multi-ethnic, language as a means of communication can be a tool for national development and unity. This same language can be used as a means of relegation and exclusion. This act of relegation can bring about chaos and distabilization in a nation as the different linguistic groups would no longer trust one another in a bid to create an identity for themselves. This is the type of event that can be gotten in Nigeria. This paper discusses language situation in Nigeria by examining the unifying importance of English Language in Nigeria. This means that the use of English Language in Nigeria as national language has brought about unity, national consciousness, national development, and national integration. The use of the English Language as the nation's official language has prevented chaos and disintegration which the use of indigenous languages would have brought on the nation.

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