Years of nursery education are crucial in the language development process of the child. In Nigeria, a nation with over 400 languages, naming a national language for educational and cultural development that foster unity and identity, becomes a sensitive issue. It is argued that government encouragement of private efforts in the provision of pre-primary education has led to commercialization, and that in this context, language skills that schools supply are in a way products that carry price-tags. As such, government policy is an alternative product, and government must change the attitudes of the people in order for its alternative product to be accepted. Eight private nursery schools were consulted for information on clientele, fees payable, quality of staff, and language policy. A socioeconomic description of nursery schools is offered and the nature of language skills' products available to children are discussed with reference to government language policy objectives. A quasi-economic model is provided to move language development in the direction of the ideal defined by the policy. Successful intervention by the government would result in support for multilingualism. (Contains 26 references.) (Author/AA)