The decision to adopt French as Nigeria’s second official language was intended to serve the country’s geostrategic interests. Unfortunately, its implementation in the country’s geolinguistic and geopolitical landscape has been fraught with so many difficulties. This is, perhaps, because of the way the decision was taken. It was apparently not based on any decision-making model which should have naturally followed clearly defined steps and, consequently, found sympathizers to the cause. This study which is based on the deductive approach of secondary data analysis examined some decision-making models against the backdrop of the decision to adopt French as Nigeria’s second official language and discovered that the difficulties inherent in implementing the decision draw essentially from the psychological-perceptual (i.e. The Great Man Theory of History) model that was applied. This model is only a euphemism for dictatorship. Yet, language, as inherent in culture, is neither decreed nor imposed; it is rather developed.
French, Geostrategic stakes, Decision-making, Second Official Language
