The above statement was made by President Bola Tinubu on the occasion of the unveiling of the N68 billion Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Arts. The centre, which was formerly named as the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos  – the enormous edifice in which was held the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977 – was the pride of Africa.

In the past decade or two, the theatre had become an eye-sore, very much dilapidated! The unveiling took place right inside the rebuilt edifice on the night of October 1, 2025, witnessed by who-is-who in Nigeria, including the First Lady, Senator (Mrs) Remi Tinubu. It was one of the programmes designed towards the celebration of Nigeria’s independence. The new theatre which was rebuilt by the Committee of Bankers of Nigeria had the Governor of Central Bank, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, as its co-ordinator. The theatre is now the pride of the world because it is comparable to any of such theatres across the globe.

Other than the above statement made by the President concerning the learning and teaching of English, there were other short words and expressions made by other people around and about the 65th celebration of Nigeria’s independence on the October 1, 2025. Before I examine the words and expressions, I must establish, very briefly, the conceptual construct concerning the use and state of English in Nigeria.

In my inaugural lecture delivered at the Main Auditorium of the University of Lagos on August 21, 2019 and by extension to the whole world regarding its publication by the University of Lagos management, I sounded a note of warning to my fellow custodians involved in the learning and teaching of English in Nigeria.

With the lecture’s topic: ‘The English Language in Nigeria as Discourses of Life and Death’, I sounded a note of warning that the English language in Nigeria is dying gradually in our country because many people use it very poorly. Its death might not be easily noticeable even by its teachers because of the large population. Also, its manifestation radiates a novel kind of death different from many language scholars’ characterisations of dead or dying languages in many parts of the world.

Two days before the independence celebration, the President of the Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr Festus Osifo, spoke on Channels Television with Mr Seun Okinbaloye, the ace anchor of the programme, Politics Today. He asserted that members of his association would go on strike because the management of Dangote Refinery had apparently sacked 800 workers who were tanker drivers.  They were sacked, according to him, because they were not allowed to join the association. My main concern in this writing, however, was Mr Festus Osifo’s description of the management of PENGASSAN as intellectual!

Contextualising his actions that might have destroyed the nation’s celebration of our cherished independence was unintellectual in all ramifications. As an intellectual and a teacher of the English language myself, the lexical word Intellectualism is rooted in objectivity, logic and empiricism. It is scientific and mathematical.

The words that he used along the description are mostly illogical and very much out of tune with the Nigerian situation, contextually. Mr Osifo needed to have understood intellectualism as a calculous of some sort – that the Nigerian economy would go down the slope of its fiscal course if his association embarks on a strike in Nigeria now.

Most relevantly, and urgently, many Nigerians would not have enjoyed the celebration of independence because they would be unable to move around to places of interests and our children to parks because of the scarcity of fuel.  He seemed, during the programme, to have appropriated the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to his association from decades ago.

Even when Okinbaloye asked if the NNPC belonged to Trade Union Congress (TUC), Osifo insisted that they made NNPC to work. Yet, the association could not do anything to make the refineries work over the years. Being a private organisation that has assisted to stabilise the country’s economy, Dangote’s Refinery ought to have been allowed to function.

If Osifo were an intellectual, he would have explored dialogue to a logical conclusion before the choice of the option to go on a strike. As teachers, as an example, we have various associations at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. In the university alone, we have three of such independent associations. If, indeed, PENGASSAN has a right to ask members staff of the Dangote Refinery to join it, I call on the National Assembly to amend the laws to reduce the labour unions from going on strike without exploring dialogue to its logical and convincing conclusion.

When Prof. Soyinka rose to speak at the theatre, he spoke excellently well, as usual, particularly concerning the seven reasons he had accepted the honour of the theatre being named after him. His comment that the President conspired with others to approve the naming of the edifice after him attracted the attention of Tinubu who refuted the claim by Soyinka.

The President asserted to the admiration of all who were present and who watched the programme on television stations across the globe that Soyinka is Nigeria’s greatest asset to the world. He described the honour as well deserved, recalling his immense contributions to nation-building, struggle and freedom.

His use of the expression that ‘we learn English, we teach English’ may be contextualised, on the surface, analytical, and discourse levels as an indirect reference to the person of Professor Soyinka and his impeccable use of the English language particularly in literary creativity of immense proportions.

Also, as a teacher of the English language, at the night of the celebration, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Olayemi Cardoso used an expression during his speech that was novel to me in Nigeria. It was the use of the Nominalised Modal expression – Might I add, to begin, supposedly, a new paragraph. Such a usage is rare in Nigeria. Instead, Nigerians use, ‘If I may add, I wish to add, and very informally in formal situations, I want to add’. The last expression is informal because it is impolite in a formal situation. Its negative form which is, Mightn’t I add, may be used by him one day! I suppose that he and his speech writers would fathom its use and the meaning of his expression’s negative form.

In conclusion, our leaders should learn and re-learn the English language regularly in order to communicate effectively to Nigerians and members of the world because the language has become the greatest asset that the British left behind at independence on October 1, 1960!  In this regard, the language may not die in Nigeria.
Daramola is a Professor of English and Linguistics at Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. He can be reached via:[email protected]  or 0803 391 2012.