Kogi is one of Nigeria's most multilingual states, with at least nine indigenous languages and no single majority.
Major languages#
- Igala — ~2 million speakers; Yoruboid branch (despite the cultural distance from Yoruba); Idah-Ankpa axis.
- Ebira (Igbira) — Nupoid; Okene-Adavi axis; ~one million speakers.
- Yoruba (Okun: Bunu, Yagba, Owe, Ijumu, Oworo dialects) — west Kogi.
- Nupe (Bassa-Nge) — north Lokoja.
- Bassa-Nkomu — Kogi-Nasarawa border.
Minor and endangered languages#
- Owe, Ososo, Akpa, Akoko-Edo dialect clusters.
- Hausa in Lokoja markets.
Lingua francas#
Hausa in Lokoja and the trade markets; Pidgin among riverine workers; English in schools.
Notable literary and political moments#
- Igala has the only Yoruboid language whose monarchy (the Attah) is older than the Yoruba kingdoms' contact with Islam — a key argument in Yoruba-Igala 'shared origin' debates.
Sources & further reading#
- Ethnologue: Languages of Nigeria (SIL).
- Roger Blench, *An Atlas of Nigerian Languages* (3rd ed., 2019).
- Ayo Bamgbose, *Language and the Nation* (1991).
- UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.