The Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Sidi
Bage Muhammad I, on Saturday called for the official recognition of Pidgin
English as a language in the country and for unifying Nigerians through its
spoken words.
NAN reports that Muhammad, a
retired Supreme Court Justice made the call at the 35th Annual National
Conference of English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN) in collaboration
with Department of Languages National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Abuja.
He said it was time to appreciate
Pidgin English; especially as it had enabled Nigerians communicate in time of
difficulty as presently witnessed in the country.
“Pidgin English has done very
well because it has become a medium of communication in this country.
“This has helped a lot of
Nigerian who do not have a great command of English language opportunity to
communicate with people at our level, and it has kept this country together.
“I did say when we were having
conference at the Court of Appeal to decide on some pertinent question that
there is the need for pigeon English to be given some recognition in this
country,” Muhammad said.
According to Muhammad, even the
Court of Appeal recognizes that Pidgin English can stand the place of English
and as such its statements can be admissible in evidence.
He said: “There was this argument
in the past whether a statement made in Pidgin English can be admissible in
law; it was subjected to a lot of interpretations and it started from the level
of the High Court and met us at the Court of Appeal.
“The decision of the High Court
is that Pidgin English is not English and as such that statement cannot on its
own stand the test of a statement; it has either to be interpreted in English
which was what the court said it must be subjected to but that it will require
some degree of corroboration.
“It came to us at the Court of
Appeal and we sat at the panel to decide. Our decision at the court of Appeal
was that Pidgin English is English, and we said that what is important is that
it has communicated exactly what the owner of the statement intended to convey.
“Again, we said that the audience
it was intended for fully understood it, so Pidgin English can stand the place
of English and such statement can be admissible in evidence.
“We thought that the parties
affected will appeal to the Supreme Court since it was of a national importance
so that it can become a law and not be subjected to another form of
interpretation next time, but they didn’t go to Supreme Court.”
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200 percent steps backward ,wrong if old cargos that must not be put aside this country will keep rolling backward
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