The disparate impacts of Boko Haram insurgency and banditry on teaching of English in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

English in Nigeria is a medium of instruction and a tool that bridges the communication gap stemmed from the multilingual and multicultural nature of the country and other multifaceted problems associated with learning in a foreign language. When learners are denied access to the only means of instruction, employment opportunities and other paths to greatness are compromised. For over a decade, the educational system of Northern Nigeria has been embroiled and teaching of English language clogged. This study aims to report the activities of an insurgency group, popularly known as Boko Haram and Bandits in Northern Nigeria on the education system and the resultant effects on teaching English Language to students and the professional developments of English teachers. The study generates data through a questionnaire administered to twenty one English teachers in Northern Nigeria through Google forms and the reports of Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attacks (GCPEA). The statistical analyses of the data reveal vulnerability of female students and teachers than their male counterparts due to armed conflicts. The study further reveals incidents of anxiety on teachers and learners, closure and militarization of some schools and other traumatic experiences that inhibited teaching and learning of English in Northern Nigeria. While this study underscores government’s appropriate programmes and policies to support English teacher’s professional development and the teaching of English to children who are out of school due to the nefarious activities of Boko Haram and Bandits, and their impacts in achieving desirable performance goals in English, it could not report efforts the Nigerian government has employed in ameliorating the menace. The pedagogic implication of this study is that loss of performance skills in a target language is possible when learners have not gained remarkable mastery in all levels of language study. Again, in the next twenty years, only few Northern Nigerians would be good users of English in a country where the economic and social resource greatly depend on mastery of English