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Brief History of DNLG

The Department of Nigerian Languages was established on the 28th of October, 2013. It started with 16 students trained through the pre-degree programme of the University (School of Developmental Studies) and through the UTME. The programme started with only six academic staff comprising of tenure and visiting Professors from neighbouring Universities. The Department of Nigerian Languages was one of the pioneer Departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. From moderate beginning, the Department now has 16 staff and 70 students.

Philosophy, Aims and Objectives of the Degree Programme

In a country such as Nigeria, where English is an official language, and the language of instruction in the educational system in both primary and tertiary institutions, the need had arisen to upgrade one of the native and Nigerian languages, to replace English been as a foreign language.

  • To train students on various aspects of Nigerian languages for possibility of developing it to the actual level of international languages like English and French.
  • To train students and professionals as journalists, teachers, administrators, etc;
  • To develop useful aspects of our traditional norms and culture to meet the demand of our needs for national development;
  • To train students as specialists, and translators, artistes and critics of various aspects of related African literature.

This is why there is the need for devoting greater attention to the achievement of improved knowledge of Hausa and the acquisition of adequate oral and written skills in it.  Hausa graduates from Nigerian Universities should be clearly and positively identified with adequate proficiency in pronunciation, articulateness in speech, correctness of grammar and usage, elegance and style in diction in the choice of an appropriate variety of standard Hausa for use in the various administrative and professional job opportunities available in the labour market, in literary and creative writing domains, and in postgraduate studies in both the language and linguistics.

In addition, this programme is designed:

  1. to train students to acquire adequate communicative competence in both the spoken and written varieties of the English language, thereby giving them a good grounding and effective mastery of various applications of the Language skills to achieve adequate self-expression and self-actualisation;
  2. to equip the students with the knowledge of the forms and features of the varieties of Hausa used in different professional domains such as business communication, legal communication, electronic broadcast media, print journalism, advertising and sports commentaries, book publishing, and biography writing;
  3. to equip the students with adequate linguistic knowledge of the Hausa Language through a detailed study of its sound system, its lexicon, its syntax, its semantics, its use and usage;
  4. to adequately prepare the students to pursue postgraduate studies in Hausa Language, Linguistics, and to take up teaching and research at the appropriate level of education;
  5. to orient students towards self-employment by focusing on skills such as writing (e.g. of articles in magazines, of speeches; designing and presenting special programs on radio or TV, designing and publishing magazines etc.), creative writing, and other kinds of original output through independent thought, inventiveness and creativity, and
  6. to enable students to overcome deficiencies in their Native Language.

Admission Requirements

Apart from satisfying the University entry requirements, prospective students applying for B.A Hausa Language Programme are expected to have the following:

  1. UTME: 4-Year Degree Programme
  1. 5 credit level passes in the SSCE/NECO/GCE (O/L) examinations in relevant subjects including Hausa Language. In addition to this, an acceptable score in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is required.

ii.  Direct Entry (DE): 3-Year Degree Programme

  1. A minimum of 2 GCE (Advanced Level) passes one of which must be Hausa Language with additional three credits in the West African School Certificate (WASC), General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level or NECO.
  2. Two passes (One must be Literature in Hausa) at the IJMB Examination or its equivalent with three Ordinary Level Passes.
  3. Two Credits (one must be from English/Hausa Language/Literature) in NCE with School Certificate Credits in three other subjects.
  4. Diploma in Translation obtained from a reputable institution with at least Lower Credit and five Ordinary Level Credits.