In 1914, the Northern and Southern Protectorates of a colony, an administrative boundaries set up by the British colonialists, were dismantled and the colonies merged by Sir F. Lord Lugard. The merger became the first political turning point and a milestone development. It brought about the birth through the amalgamation of a unit geo-entity and nation called Nigeria. Consequently, Nigeria did not evolve through any known ethnographic origins. The amalgamation was cosmetic and that can be seen as such because there were no elements of homogeneity in the peoples that occupied the vast landmass.
And then, in 1960, a new Nation State earned her right to self-determination and government. Nigeria, now a sovereign entity followed in the wake of the traditions willed to her by her colonialists. She readily embraced the English Language as her tentative Lingua-franca. This was not done in isolation as the country took due cognizance of the fact that Nigeria is a land of contrasts.
From present day projections, about 100 million people populate Nigeria, as evidenced by figures from the National Population Census of 1991. Out of this astonishing number, it is believed that one out of every four Africans or one out of every six black persons in the world is a Nigerian by birth or otherwise. In the same vein also, there are at least 98,000 communities with a heterogeneous populace who speaks about 400 different languages in this same country.
These data raise questions which border on the basis for cohesion, comprehension and unity in such diversity. It is an anthropological fact that Language plays a unifying role in the beginning, development, beliefs, and customs of any group of people. Language is a means by which words or expressions find meaning and is put into use. Basically, it is used as a means of giving out information, thoughts, skills, ideas, reasoning and ensure receipt of same from varied sources without loosing track of the desired objective.
Language is capable of wearing several meanings and its message, mode, receptacle or feedback loop can influence action, behavior, norms, mores, values and other extra perceptible roles of human beings in the society.
As a direct result of the diverse cultural and ethnic peculiarities of Nigeria, the development of a common indigenous language has been at a very sluggish pace. Our adopted lingua franca is an imported impostor in the true sense of usage. This reasoning explains why it has become difficult to formulate decisively, an educational and socio-political, economic as well as culturally integrated policy than can form the foundation for a purposeful agrarian, industrial and even technological revolution.
It is in the light of the ethnocentric peculiarities of Nigeria, coupled with the wide marginal differences in terms of her people, her customs and value system; her resources, environment, divergent cultures and religions, that the Guosa Language was evolved as a medium of common indigenous socially interwoven language and as a unifying mould towards building a virile and formidable society.
