The study also sought to establish if those who may have held negative attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin English while in Nigeria now hold a different attitude since being in Cape Town. This project investigated if the Nigerians who find themselves in a different geographical space like Cape Town still hold negative attitudes towards Pidgin English and whether they abstained from speaking the language or speak it freely. Also, the general attitudes held by Nigerians regarding the language can be described as ambivalent with majority leaning towards the negative attitude more.

The government has continued to ignore it “despite the fact that Nigerian Pidgin is in most respects the most logical choice for a national language official attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin remain negative, perpetuating erroneous notions inherited from the colonial period that Nigerian Pidgin is some form of ‘broken English’” (Faraclas 1996: 18). There is a general belief by some Nigerians that Nigerian Pidgin English is a colloquial form of English that is mostly spoken by those whose Standard English proficiency has not fully developed (Agheyisi, 1971:30). The language plays a major role in youth culture and most Nigerians speak the language. According to Balogun (2012: 90), “Nigerian Pidgin English has emerged as the most widely spoken language of inter and intra communication among Nigerians and across diverse ethnic groups that do not share a common language”. Nigerian Pidgin English is widely spoken in different parts of the country and “has been called the native language of a substantial population of people in the Niger Delta, particularly in the Sapele and Warri areas” (Igboanusi, 2008: 68).

How to speak nigerian pidgin