By
Obododimma
Oha
Anyone who
has been following programme modifications and innovations on British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) would not fail to notice an intensified attention to language, which is
obviously commendable because it translates into the creation of new jobs for people
with skills in these areas, rediscovery of the integrity for language training,
and generally an orientation towards the development of languages, especially
those at the margins. But there is a great difference between the sound of
bitter cola in the mouth and its dreaded taste on the tongue, as our elders say!
So, after all these years of colonial "Englishification" in which “pure” English excited imagination especially in colonial
classrooms, BBC has suddenly radicalized to pretend to be on the vanguard of
the promotion of marginalized languages? Innocuous and well-meaning as this
posture may seem, one suspects greater politicking with language (a
continuation of language politics by other means!), still with the marginal as
the one to be strategically cheated and marginalized.
It is
important to point out right at the beginning that BBC is obviously
capitalizing on the perception of superiority that the colonized internalized
and implemented sadly. Flowing from oyibo
bụ mmụọ (the Whiteman is a spirit), the expressions or inclinations of
organizations like BBC, which were the voices of the master, had and continue
to have enormous weight, even for the enactment of laws and definition of paths
in the postcolony today. So, if BBC endorses it, directly or indirectly, it
acquires legitimacy (it seems).
In this
regard, it appears to be an important recognition if BBC also speaks pidgin,
the crude expression of the colonized, even to amuse and entertain itself. One
thing that the slave that waits upon the master should learn is to watch out to
laugh along, very long, with the master if the master struggles to learn the
complex expressions of the slave's life.
BBC could be
seen to be doing speakers of Nigerian pidgin a great favour, endorsing the
crude, lawless expression and helping to popularize it! If a “strong” voice of
the colonizer (that is even associated with Received Pronunciation or RP for
short) allows its news or any of its discourse to be in pidgin, then it is a special
nod worth looking into.
I have been
looking at texts of news and special features in BBC Pidgin and have noticed
this subtle move to buy over all the previous achievements so that BBC could be
listed as one of the key players in the development of pidgin.Which is why one
could wonder where organizations like BBC were all the while. Where dem dey before before? Is BBC now
done with RP fantasy? Why is BBC now coming to the cold hut of pidgin?
Maybe because
it is viable. Maybe because BBC, as a colonizer, wants to acquire pidgin as
property, in case! Maybe because maybe!
I am still
looking at various forms of linguistic imperialism with one eye closed. This
one eye has to remain open, in case something happens when both are shut during
the BBC prayer session. One eye has to be open in case. In case this case is a
case, like other strange ones!
Pidgin is
also one of your resources which could be directly or indirectly exploited. The
imperialist, as an exploiter, can never colonize you in your own interest!
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