THE UNIFYING POWER OF LANGUAGE A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RUSSIAN AND NIGERIAN STATES

Abstract

The Unifying Power of Language which is generally defined as the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way, is a force that can never be neglected by any peace loving State. Apart from using language for communication, language is also used for education. In fact, without language, there is no education. The aim of this work is to give a Comparative Analysis of the unifying roles of language in Russian and Nigerian States. The two countries are chosen as case studies because Russia which practices monolingual language is believed to be more united compared to Nigeria that is multilingual. The question this work seeks to answer is on how national unity is fostered by Language. The Russian nation, as a homogeneous nation with time-honoured history and culture, is highly patriotic and strong in esprit de corps. On the other hand Nigeria suffers the misfortune of almost losing its sovereignty because of the struggle for power which is often triggered by ethnic affiliations. The methodology employed in this study is descriptive phenomenological method. Both oral interviews and library materials were used. The study revealed that Language is the chief medium for the communication of civilizations, customs, traditions, habits, wisdom, values and lifestyles of a people, thus using the English Language in Nigeria, while encouraging the learning of mother tongue will help to foster unity.