2. English... to unite

Nigerian Standard English is based on Standard British English and is mainly used in official contexts (i.e. education) in spoken and written form. But since language needs to reflect the culture of the country where it is spoken, Nigerian Standard English includes a large number of loanwords from other Nigerian native languages that have no direct British English equivalent. For example the words „danfo“ and „okada“. Both are different modes of transportation - but they are non-existent in Britain. Consequently, in Nigeria you „can either go by danfo or by okada.“ Also, some British English words have undergone a so-called 'semantic shift' - their meaning has changed. For example the word „stranger“ not only has its Standard English meaning (a person whom one does not know), but also means „visitor“: „He has a stranger this evening.“ means „He has a visitor this evening.“ 

The term „Broken English“ is often used interchangeably with „Pidgin English“ - but it is a different type of English. „Broken English“ is actually a pejorative term - it implies that this kind of English is broken, incomplete, faulty. It is used (mainly by native speakers) to describe a kind of English spoken by non-native speakers that violates the basic grammatical rules. For example, 

„Me like see you.“ means „I want to see you.“

„Me is come see you tomorrow.“ means „I will see you tomorrow.“

In Nigeria, Standard English is very much a „white collar“ language - it is mainly used in official contexts and by more educated people. Less educated people often speak Broken English - it is their attempt at speaking the language without ever having received proper education in the language. 

Broken English still aims at the Standard English norm. Therefore, foreigners might understand someone speaking Broken English better than someone speaking Pidgin.

A pidgin language is a linguistic fusion - it is a language that contains lexical and grammatical features from two or more languages.  However, it usually has a smaller vocabulary and simplified grammar in comparison to the original languages. It is used for communication between people who do not speak a common language.

West African Pidgin uses many English words, but mostly the structure of the indigenous languages. It is mainly an oral language. It may be occasionally used in writing, but there is no standard written form.
West African Pidgin started in the 18th century as a trade language between Africans and Europeans and is one of the most widely spoken languages in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea today. As Pidgin is a mixture of English and local languages, it sounds different in each country, but the different versions are still mutually intelligible. 
West African Pidgin is constantly changing and creative: „It's quite fluid, it keeps changing all the time and it's expressive as well.“ (Bilkisu Labaran, head of the new BBC language services for Nigeria)

In Nigeria, an estimated number of 3-5 million people use Pidgin as their primary language in everyday life, and up to 75 million people speak it as a second language. 

Linguistically, West African Pidgin is actually no longer a Pidgin language, but a Creole Language, because its grammar has become more consistent, it has a large, stable vocabulary and it is in fact acquired by children as their native language.

„It was important that by setting up the service the BBC was not focusing on covering negative reports about Africa, but connecting the continent's needs and aspirations(...)
We had many challenges, the key one being that Pidgin is a largely spoken language and hardly has a commonly agreed spelling or written format. So in the beginning we were constantly challenged by audiences in Ghana who thought certain words should be spelt the Ghanaian way, while Cameroon audiences would disagree just as Sierra Leonean, Liberian and Nigerian audiences would prefer a different approach.

We have had to take the lead by gradually aiming to standardise Pidgin as spoken and written across West and Central Africa, whilst creating some form of generally acceptable usage.“

Adeyuwon Soyinka, editor BBC News Pidgin on https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/c6b3da72-9034-41a5-815b-b4df77a35154