Nupe belongs to the Nupe-Gware subbranch of Kwa and is presently spoken in the states of Kwara, Niger, Benue, part of the Plateau states, and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.
Grimes (1996) cites a figure of 1,062,000 speakers of Nupe; UBS notes one million speakers (1982); Herault (1981) states there are approximately 600,000. Bokani (personal communication, 1985) reports that the 1963 census shows 326,017 speakers and that "this figure must have tripled since then."
Nupe is a local language. Bokani reports "it is officially used in broadcasting news over radio and television in Niger and Kwara States."
There is an approved orthography put out by the Ministry of Education in Minna following the efforts of the 1953 UNESCO conference in Zaria and the Nigerian 1977 new National Policy on Education.
Given the existence of a standardized orthography, only one set of learning materials will be required for teaching Nupe.
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