Managing Multilingualism in Nigerian Federal Civil Service Communication: A Professional Perspective

The Federal Civil Service of Nigeria operates within an institutionally English-medium framework that coexists with the multilingual realities of a workforce drawn from over five hundred ethnolinguistic communities, creating communication management challenges that affect both internal efficiency and public service delivery. This study examines multilingualism management practices in Federal Civil Service communication from a professional applied linguistics perspective, drawing on fieldwork conducted in seven ministries and parastatals in Abuja. Professional investigation methods combined semi-structured interviews with fifty civil servants across grade levels from junior officers to directors, observation of seven interdepartmental meetings, and analysis of thirty internal communication documents. Findings reveal that English is formally dominant in all written and meeting communication contexts but is routinely supplemented by Hausa as a spoken working language in offices dominated by northern Nigerian staff, and by Yoruba and Igbo in regional offices. Language-related communication failures, including miscomprehension of policy circulars and procedural documentation, are reported across all seven institutions, with lower-grade staff in non-administrative roles most frequently affected. Professional recommendations developed from the findings address three areas: plain English standards for internal circular writing, a staff language support resource hub, and an inter-cultural communication awareness module for managers. The study advocates for a formal Federal Civil Service multilingualism communication management policy to replace the current informal ad hoc arrangements. Keywords: multilingualism management, Federal Civil Service, workplace communication, Nigeria, language policy.