Relations d’interdépendance complexe et développement du français au Nigeria

Samson Fabian Nzuanke

Université de Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

This article attempts to explain the role played by international relations in developing the French language and giving it a foothold in Nigeria. In fact, the entire process is founded on a two-century long tripod: the arrival of French traders in the Niger Delta area in the 18th century; the introduction of French in secondary schools by missionaries in the 19th century and transnational relations in the 20th century. All this falls in line with the modernist paradigm or transnationalism as propounded by Robert Keohane and Joseph S. Nye (2001) who hold that relations of interdependence involve a complex mix of multiple channels and absence of hierarchy among issues in the relations between States as well as in the relations between non-State actors. These multiple channels and the absence of hierarchy among issues create opportunities for functional co-operation whose objective is to find identical solutions to identical problems for an eventual win-win situation between States on the one hand, and between the different functional units, on the other. This is seen in the effective presence of a multiplicity of national and international stakeholders on the Nigerian linguistic landscape and their active participation in developing structures and improving the quality of French language training programmes which not only explain the current rush towards the various language centres, but also explain the continuous increase in the number of learners of French as a foreign language in Nigeria.

Key words: complex interdependence, trans-nationalism, functionalism, training