Nigerian Pidgin Echos Louder With The Compilation Of New NP Dictionary

In a solid effort to standardize and give more ambience to Nigerian Pidgin, Marcus Ijioma, a Nigerian linguist, has compiled words indigenous to Nigeria’s most widely spoken language, commonly called “Pidgin”, in a book titled A Dictionary of Nigerian Pidgin and Slangs.

The book, first launched in March, 2025, is described as the first dictionary of the Nigerian Pidgin language.

In the words of the lexicographer, the book “is an attempt at answering the national language question” which reveals the all-inclusiveness of the Nigerian Pidgin and its suitability in Nigeria’s linguistic space.

“Na book wey we put together make e for say everybody get one language wey we dey understand for Nigeria… we have words from the street, words from the market, words from all over the country, with a large chunk coming from Warri, from Port Harcourt, words like ‘abobi’, ‘odogwu’, ‘wahala’….” He said.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Marcus expressed confidence that with the light his book has thrown on Nigerian Pidgin, it could be seen that Pidgin is the only language that could foster a united Nigeria.

“It’s only in Pidgin that you can speak… without feeling any bias,” he explained. “A lot of people say ‘aboki’ but they don’t know what it means, ‘aboki’ means my friend.”

In the same vein, the Institute Liberian of the National Institute of Nigerian Languages, (NINLAN), Aba, Prof. Cyprian Ugwu, lauded Mr. Marcus for the milestone, calling the book “a specialized work,” which would serve as a guide for future scholars who would wish to carry out more research on Nigerian Pidgin.

“It is only in Pidgin you can speak…without feeling any bias,” he explained, ” a lot of people say ‘aboki’ but they don’t know what it means

Furthermore, a professor of Translation Studies at NINLAN, Aba. with specialty on French, English and Igbo languages, Prof. Ngozi Ijioma, congratulated Mr. Marcus on the feat of achieving the Pidgin dictionary and professed high optimism that, having set a yardstick for study on Pidgin, future works would definitely be better.