DEARTH OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES:The socio-cultural and national development question  

Royal fathers and concerned linguists have voiced their worry over the dearth of indigenous languages in Nigeria. The natural vernacular language that is native to a particular region and spoken by the people of the region, they note, are gradually fading away, as the languages are no longer spoken by the ‘now’ generation.

Language engineers stress that the phenomenon is somewhat affecting the socio-cultural development of the country.

They insist that pragmatic efforts should be made to encourage the use of indigenous languages like Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Urhobo and Itsekiri among others, at homes and in schools.

They particularly underscore the need to promote the codification of these languages and their teaching in schools, so as to guard against their total annihilation by English, a foreign language.

Besides, the linguists believe that promotion of indigenous languages will facilitate the fulfillment of national development aspirations, arguing that most developed countries effectively use their indigenous languages to foster national growth.

Corroborating these views, Prof. Ayo Akinwale, the Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, explained that indigenous science and technology could be better developed if citizens made use of their mother tongues.

“Therefore, the mother tongue must be protected in order to save it from going into extinction,’’ he said.

The don, nonetheless, urged the government and well-to-do individuals in the society to invest in the development and standardisation of indigenous languages.

Similarly, Prof. Bayo Lawal of the Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, noted that indigenous science and technology could not be developed in the country due to the absolute focus on the use of the English Language.

He emphasised that effective usage of indigenous languages was the only viable tool for national development.

In the same vein, Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezigbo, Head of English Department, University of Lagos, said that indigenous African languages were being supplanted by foreign languages across the continent.

According to her, indigenous languages have been labelled as “vernacular’’ or “garbage’’ and as such, most African children and youths in primary and secondary schools are even punished for speaking their mother tongues.

“Students who speak foreign languages in schools are respected, while students who speak their indigenous languages are looked down upon or called `local’.

“The trading of Africa’s indigenous languages has led to today’s children feeling ashamed of speaking their mother tongue.

“Indigenous languages are slowly dying simply because we, Africans, believe that foreign languages are superior to our local languages,” she added.

Adimora-Ezigbo noted that English was considered a language of prestige and “if you could not speak grammatically correct English, then you are considered to be primitive.

“We need reorientation of our minds in order to take pride in our languages and preserve them.

“Many African elites have encouraged their children to forsake their mother tongues and embrace foreign languages because they feel it proves that they are civilised people,” she added.

Nevertheless, Adimora-Ezigbo said: “It is the responsibility of parents to ensure the survival of indigenous languages by ensuring that they communicate and relate with their children solely in their mother tongues.

“It is ideal for a person to master his or her language through books and interaction before going through multimedia platforms,” she said.

The professor also stressed the need for the government and families to promote the speaking of mother tongues at home.

She said that Africa had between 1,500 and 2,000 indigenous languages, making her the most linguistically diverse continent in the world.

Adimora-Ezigbo, however, noted that up to 300 of these African languages had less than 10,000 speakers, while more than 37 of the languages faced the risks of extinction.

Sharing similar sentiments, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, the Minister of State for Education, recently expressed concern at the sharp decline in the number of Nigerian youths who were able to read or write in their mother tongues.

Anwukah warned that Nigeria’s indigenous languages could eventually go into extinction because of the decline in their usage by the youth.

“Our youths, especially those living in the urban centres, hardly communicate in their mother tongues.

“I believe that the best way to give our children good knowledge of history, values and tradition is to ensure that they are able to read and write in their own local languages.

“ Language is the most potent instrument for preserving and developing a people’s cultural heritage,” the minister said.

Consequently, Mrs Dayo Keshi, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), called on Nigerian parents and schools to encourage the speaking of mother tongues by the children.

She made the call in Abuja during the celebration of International Mother Language Day on Feb. 21.

The Day, which was proclaimed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and recognised by the UN General Assembly, aims at promoting the preservation and protection of all the languages used by the peoples of the world.

Keshi moaned that Nigerian parents did not communicate with their children in their local languages, while English Language is the only language of instruction in most schools.

“In China, for instance, they use the mother tongue to teach students in school.

“If children are not taught how to speak their local languages; it may be very difficult for them to cope when they grow older,’’ she said.

According to her, when children are deprived of learning how to speak their mother tongues, they would not be balanced intellectually.

“Parents and schools should keep the expression of mother tongue alive because it gives the children a sense of belonging and it enables them to identify with their roots,’’ Keshi said.

All the same, Mr Kanayo Chukwuemezi, the President of African Arts and Cultural Heritage Association, underscored the need for the government to formulate a policy that would make studies of any of the indigenous languages compulsory in primary and secondary schools.

“Most of our youths today cannot speak their mother tongue; the only language the know how to speak is English and that is not good for the future of our national identity.

“A policy on the use of the mother tongue in schools will encourage our youths to speak the mother tongues,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Mrs Nneka Moses, the Managing Director of Goge Africa Ltd., affirmed that a policy on studies and use of mother tongues would aid efforts to foster national development.

Moses said that Nigeria’s indigenous languages were noticeably going into extinction due to the apathy of most citizens towards communicating in such languages.

She grumbled that undue “Westernisation’’ had eroded indigenous cultural values in the country, as most citizens now wanted to behave like foreigners, thereby jettisoning their cultural heritage.

“The youth prefer to speak foreign languages and dress like foreigners. This is not good for our culture.

“Nigerians, those at home and in foreign countries, should be proud of our culture,’’ she said, adding that culture could also help to preserve the nation’s unity.

Moses particularly urged parents to play major roles in ensuring that their children were kept abreast of their indigenous cultures.

“Culture goes along with language because language plays a vital role in the promotion, preservation and propagation of culture,’’ she said.

Moses, however, described language as a tool for the transmission of the nation’s cultural heritage.

All in all, cultural anthropologists affirm that the mother tongue is one of the attributes that distinguish a particular group of people from others.

They underscore the need to make concrete efforts to encourage and sustain the use of indigenous languages in all societies.

The experts, therefore, urge the government to inaugurate policies and programmes that will promote the use of mother tongue by the children.