Over the decades, there has been a recurring not-well-thought-out argument that English is not Nigeria’s language and is not a mark of intelligence. Those who raise this issue usually point at China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, etc, as examples of countries which have excelled without English. Surprisingly, even many educated and well-travelled people push this point, and many people applaud them as cerebral patriots who just discovered the cure for cancer!

Chinese citizens who are resident in China don’t need fluency in English to excel in life, because English is neither their national nor official language. What they need is Mandarin, which is the official language of China. Standard Mandarin (sometimes called Standard Chinese) is regulated in China by the National Language Regulating Committee, which ensures that the language is written and spoken correctly. It is the language used to teach from the lowest to the highest levels of education. There is a law in China making it illegal to teach languages other than Mandarin in schools. Books in China are written in Mandarin. Newspapers are written in Mandarin. Radio and TV stations broadcast in Mandarin. Those who can’t write well in Mandarin are disadvantaged the same way those who can’t write in English in Nigeria are disadvantaged.

To get good jobs in China, you have to know how to write in Mandarin well. If not, you will be constrained to either running your business or making do with a blue-collar job, just as someone who does not know how to speak and write English in Nigeria cannot work in a bank, hospital, law firm or manufacturing company, except as a driver, gatekeeper, security person, cleaner, labourer, and the like.

In China, those who are in programming, medicine, banking, marketing, communication, management, education, law, accountancy, military, police, aviation, pharmacy, nursing, etc, are fluent in Mandarin. Political leaders are also those who are fluent in Mandarin.

The same thing happens in Japan with Japanese, South Korea with Korean, Germany with German, Italy with Italian and UAE with Arabic. The only difference between these countries and Nigeria is that their respective national language is indigenous to them. They speak it from birth and are fluent in it the same way an Igbo is fluent in Igbo, or a Hausa is fluent in Hausa, even without going to school. The challenge is that the person may not know how to write it. Conversely, English is not the first language of Nigerians, especially those born outside the cities. They learn their indigenous language first and then learn English in school. While a Japanese or a German can speak Japanese or German respectively fluently without going to school, a Nigerian cannot speak English fluently without going to school.

Therefore, anybody who wants to argue logically should not argue that a Chinese does not need English to excel. The person should argue whether a Chinese can excel as a professional without knowing how to write in Mandarin or whether a Japanese can excel as a professional without knowing how to write in Japanese.

Even though English is not the mother tongue of Nigerians, it is the official language of Nigeria. Those who say that English is not Nigeria’s language simply love to deceive themselves. The day you will see their “red eyes” is the day President Bola Tinubu addresses Nigerians in Yoruba or Vice President Kashim Shettima addresses Nigerians in Hausa, or Senate President Godswill Akpabio addresses the Senate in Annang.

As patriotic as we would want to be, the sad reality is that Nigeria has only one official language, which is English. Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba that are usually called the three major languages are not official languages. They are regional languages. English is the only language used in the constitution. It is the only language used at the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, universities, etc. When the president or minister or any federal official wants to address Nigerians, the person must speak in English. If the person speaks in any other langauge, Nigerians would raise hell.

No doubt, English is not a measure of intelligence. Like every other language, its primary role is communication. But no country toys with its national language. Proficiency in one’s national language (especially in the written form) confers a great advantage. It is usually acquired through formal education. In Nigeria, English is the language of instruction. One can be excused for passing through primary school or secondary school without being proficient in English. But graduating from the university and still performing poorly in English is not something to be proud of. It points to mediocrity. There is no way to defend it.

There is also the argument that literacy should not be judged by formal education. The argument is that there are Nigerians who did not go through the regular school system but can read and write well in Hausa, Arabic, Igbo, or Yoruba. Again, that argument is lame because it hangs in the air without a base. Think of a man from Portugal or Brazil or Angola with a first class in Portuguese, an MBA and many years of work experience but with no knowledge of English relocating to the United Kingdom or the United States of America. Who will employ this highly skilled professional to work in his field of specialisation in these English-speaking countries? The simple truth is that he is not literate in the UK or US, because he cannot read or write in English. (If he were in Angola or Brazil or Portugal, he would be highly literate.) To help himself, the first thing he should do is to learn English as quickly as possible. Once he can communicate passably in English, he will increase his chances of making his qualifications and skills functional.

It is the same thing for Nigerians who argue that those who can read and write in other languages that are not English should not be categorised as illiterate. The question to ask is: Which company can recruit such people in Nigeria? Is it Air Peace or Zenith Bank or Airtel or Insight Communications of Punch Nigeria Limited? If such people can’t speak and write in English, how will they function as professionals in these companies?

If Hausa or Igbo or Yoruba were the official language of Nigeria, the case would have been different. The indigenous language would be used to teach in schools and universities. It would be used to publish national newspapers. It would be used by the president to address the nation. Companies would use it to conduct their business transactions. Those who are proficient in it would get good value.

For those who argue that English is a foreign language, and that Nigerians should promote their indigenous languages above English, that is also a vacuous argument. That is not logical because Nigerians would not want any single indigenous language to be raised above other languages. They prefer that the indigenous languages be restricted to their regions or zones of influence, while English is used for official and country-wide communication.

The only way Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba can take precedence over English is if the North, South-East and South-West of Nigeria were to each be an independent country. If such were to happen, these indigenous languages would gain global prominence, as more attention would be paid to developing them and promoting them. The presidents of such countries can even decide to deliver their speech at the African Union or United Nations summits in their indigenous language and ask that it be translated into English, French, Spanish, Arabic for other countries.

There are 10 million speakers of Swedish; 5.6 million speakers of Danish; and 5.3 million speakers of Norwegian. But these languages are known globally. However, although there are more than 20 million people who speak each of Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, these Nigerian languages are not as influential as the aforementioned languages. It is because they are not used as the official language of a country.

In life, people must learn that they can’t have their cake and eat it. Note that I intentionally did not say “to eat their cake and have it,” because in line with paying attention to detail, that is not the way of saying that idiom. If Nigerians want English not to be their official language, they know what to do. But until then, Nigeria has only one official language, and that is English. And within Nigeria, anybody who cannot read and write in English is not literate.