The number of speakers of Abesabesi is not easy to determine. The only
existing estimation I could find is 10,000 Lewis, Simons, & Fennig
(2018). This estimation is from 1992 and, therefore, quite
dated. Agoyi does not present speaker estimations in any of her
publications, but gives population census data from the Abesabesi
settlements and mentions the difficulties of estimating speaker numbers
(Agoyi 2014, p. 1).
Indeed, there are severe difficulties when it comes to estimating the
amount of Abesabesi speakers. On the one hand, only old census data is
available and data about languages or ethnicity is not included. On the
other hand, the percentage of Abesabesi speakers among the population of
the nine settlements can only be estimated. Lastly, quite a substantial
part of the Abesabesi live elsewhere in Nigeria or abroad. The
percentage of Abesabesi-speakers among these diaspora-Abesabesi, again,
can only be an estimate. Nevertheless, I want to attempt an estimate in
order to give a more accurate and current view on the speaker number. As
an estimation depends on several factors, I will present a transparent
description of how I reached the estimated number.
Starting with the population data of all Abesabesi-speaking settlements,
the most suitable and current figures seem to be those collected in the
scope of the Millennium Village Project Ikaram-Ibaram, a model project
to exemplify the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations (see
Section 1.2. Chovwen et al. (2009) give figures for all Abesabesi-speaking
settlements except for Akunnu (Table 1.1).
Table 1.1: Population figures by Chovwen et al. (2009)
Town name | Population |
Ikaram | 4982 |
Ase | 72 |
Ibaram | 613 |
Iyani | 514 |
Gedegede | 995 |
Ajowa | 8064 |
For Akunnu, Agoyi (2008)
cites the Nigerian Population Census (NPC) 1991 and gives a population
of 2385. As all figures of the NPC 1991 are about double the amount of
the more recent Millenium Village figures, I assume a population of 1193
people in Akunnu (half of 2385). As Ajowa is composed of eight quarters,
of which three are Abesabesi settlements, I assume a population of 3024
for Daja, Eshuku, and Ilodun (three eighths of 8064). This makes up a
total population of 11,393 for all Abesabesi-speaking settlements.
Speaker percentages are not available - the closest figures are the
speaker percentages across age groups in Agoyi (2014, p. 4). However,
there is no population curve available, which is why speaker percentages
can not be derived from those figures. The estimate I purely base on my
own impressions and informal interviews with speakers is 50%. This is
because most children and young adults under 30 years do not speak
Abesabesi, people above 30 years have varying speaker percentages from
10% to 95% depending on the settlement, and most settlements have a
small percentage of immigrants that do not speak it either. The
estimated amount of Abesabesi speakers in the nine settlements is,
therefore, 5697 people.
The Abesabesi population living outside the nine settlements can also
only be estimated. From conversations with speakers and personal
impressions, I assume the number is rather high, but only very little of
the diaspora population speaks Abesabesi, as many of them are born and
raised in the diaspora. I am estimating around 1300 more speakers to
round up the total amount of speakers to 7000 people. As mentioned
before, this estimation of around 7000 speakers is based on a lot of
assumptions, personal impressions, and conversations with speakers and
should be used with care.