Constructing a Nigerian identity through English and Pidgin

International audience This paper deals with the ongoing rise of material describing Naija (Nigerian Pidgin) or Nigerian English (NigE) as more and more legitimate varieties of English, through epilinguistic comments pertaining to the establishment of a Nigerian-centric use of sociolects. The main methodological framework will be discourse analysis, based on Naija/NigE YouTube videos and dictionaries. I posit that Naija has entered a phase of endonormativity predicted but not quite reached before, as it was “right around the corner” earlier (Schneider 2007: 210). First, which lexical or indexical elements (Johnstone 2016) are especially present in dictionaries, glossaries and miniguides? Addresses like “how you dey?” (how are you?) and phatics like “abeg” (please) are part of the core of these lists for “imagined tourists” (Michaud 2001), and Nollywood-born expressions like “comot” (come/get out) are also evoked, as they are integral to the indexicality of “Popular Nigerian English” (Jowitt 1991: 47). The most frequent words in glossaries and dictionaries may also evoke themes like “419” (internet fraud) or “Bakassi (Boys)” (a group of young vigilantes active at the turn of the 21st century), which are deeply steeped in national history.Normative discourse surrounding epilinguistic discourse, such as comments online like “We create our own English, that’s why we are Nigeria. We set out own standards.” (DJ Pakorich, 2025) point at a national pride directed at language. The same goes for videos after the addition of NigE words to the OED: an array of short videos was produced to discuss pride: “if you hear any of these words anywhere in the world, don’t be surprised: these are now Oxford certified English words” (BBC News Africa, 2025). This also leads to the differentiation of communities: “oyinbo” (white people) as opposed to NigE speakers (Ibo, 2020), and may even highlight rivalries with neighboring countries.Corpus: BBC News Africa (2025) The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) recently added 20 Nigerian words to its latest edition. facebook.com Chriv, Chris (2021) “Le Pidgin nigérian ou ‘Broken English’ : à la découverte de l’anglais parlé au Nigéria”, Babbel fr.babbel.com Collinspiration (2022), « Learn the Nigerian Pidgin English in this Video” youtube.com DJ Pakorich (2025) “Nigeria and Ghana: Which Country Has the Best English Pronunciation?” youtube.com Ibo, Bobby (2020) “How to speak Nigerian English / How to speak Pidgin English / Speak like a pro” Bobby Ibo youtube.com: Johnstone, Barbara. (2016). Enregisterment: How linguistic items become linked with ways of speaking: Enregisterment. Language and Linguistics Compass. 10. 632-643. 10.1111/lnc3.12210.Jowitt, D. (1991). Nigerian English Usage: An Introduction, Lagos :Longman.Michaud, Jean (2001) "Anthropologie, tourisme et sociétés locales au fil des textes." Anthropologie et Sociétés 15Schneider, E. W. (2007). Postcolonial English Varieties around the world, Cambridge University Press.