Officers who attain certified proficiency will be paid a language allowance. The Nigerian Army has implemented a new language policy that demands all soldiers to be proficient in the country’s three major ethnic languages before 2019, although the English language remains its official language.According to a statement signed by Army spokesperson, Brigadier General Sani Usman, on Wednesday, November 22, 2017, the new policy is part of measures to foster better relationships between soldiers and with civilians.Officers who attain certified proficiency in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba will be paid a language allowance and will gain an added advantage when applying for recruitment or commissioning into the Nigerian Army.The statement read, “The Nigerian Army has introduced a new Language Policy. The study of foreign and local languages is worldwide practice among armies, in which officers and soldiers are encouraged to be multi-lingual.
