When you say it in pidgin, it makes the joke funnier, because people really understand what you're saying. One of the biggest radio stations, Wazobia FM, is an example.Īnd a lot of comedians in Nigeria have started to do their comedy bits in pidgin. Even before Google and BBC, local radio stations - about five or six years ago - begin broadcasting in pidgin. In 2011, Google launched its search engine in pidgin, and in 2017, BBC launched a news site in the language. You were expected to speak formal English - Queen's English - in school. I remember when I was in primary and secondary school, if you spoke pidgin, you were asked to pay a fine. We don't really make that connection when we see a British person anymore.ĭid Nigerians ever look down on speakers of pidgin? It's been 60 years since the British left as our colonial masters. Was it offensive that a member of the British crown - which ruled Nigeria for decades - was speaking in pidgin English? It's an icebreaker - look, a white guy is speaking our language! People do that routinely to show that they understand and appreciate the local culture. If you're in an Igbo-speaking area, a person might say 'good morning' in Igbo. We don't really hear pidgin English that often, but depending on what part of the country they're in, they'll try saying one or two phrases in the local language. Is it common for foreign dignitaries to speak pidgin on trips to Nigeria? He was speaking pidgin with a British accent, which you could hear if you were listening closely. The general feeling is that people thought it was a good thing, respectful but also funny. How did people react when they heard Prince Charles speaking pidgin? This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

We talked to Nsofor about pidgin, a language that he speaks with his friends, at home and in his work as a health advocate. Another questioned why Nigerians were 'doing backflips' for a former colonizer. 'Prince Charles spoke pidgin English in Lagos, so what!' tweeted one person. Some Nigerians wondered why it made international headlines.

Today, the language is widespread among all social classes and is increasingly popular among young people, writers, politicians and musicians. In the past, Nigerian pidgin English was seen as a language for uneducated people. In this hub for business and trade, people spoke 'business English' to get by - often spelled as 'pigeon English,' reflecting local pronunciation of the word 'business,' according to Salikoko Sangol Mufwene, a professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago. The term 'pidgin' was first recorded in English in 1807 in Canton, China. More than 75 million people are believed to speak pidgin across Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. A hybrid of English and local languages, it traces its roots to the Atlantic slave trade in the 17th century. Pidgin English is the lingua franca in Nigeria, where more than 300 languages are spoken, according to Francesco Goglia, a researcher at the University of Manchester. cjnoLeW6Im- BBC News Africa November 8, 2018 Prince Charles tried out some choice phrases in Pidgin as he addressed Nigerians in Lagos at the end of his nine-day tour of West Africa.

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