Language nativisation and ideologies in Ajégúnlè (Lagos)

•Ajégúnlè has been characterised by lack of social cohesion and group identity.•Nigerian Pidgin has been used as a main community language in the last decades.•The PMAN sociality shows new ideologies and patterns of use related to Nigerian Pidgin.•The young Reggae musicians use Nigerian Pidgin as a native language.•The drift of this variety of Nigerian Pidgin may lead to structural differentiation.

This paper investigates language use and ideologies in Ajégúnlè among the members of the Performing Musicians Employers' Association of Nigeria (PMAN). Ajégúnlè has been characterised by lack of social cohesion and group identity. Due to the diverse ethnic composition of the neighbourhood, Nigerian Pidgin has been used as a main community language in the last decades. The reggae musicians in Ajégúnlè also use Nigerian Pidgin in their songs and during their weekly meeting. Their sociolinguistic profile suggests that they use Nigerian Pidgin as a first language. In their discourse they put forward ideologies that are different from those commonly associated to the pidgin, and I named them 'belonging', 'seriousness', 'overseas' and 'Yorùbá.