We identify with the anxiety expressed last week by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on the precarious situation of Nigeria’s indigenous languages which are at risk of extinction because of disuse. The minister, who was addressing the 2017 Annual Roundtable on Cultural Orientation in Kaduna, observed that nation’s local languages could go into extinction in no distant future if urgent steps are not taken to reverse the trend.
Noting the decline in the usage of our languages by our youths and children, the minister regretted that most young Nigerians cannot read or write in their mother tongues, which is the clearest signal that the languages have no future. He advocated urgent steps to correct the situation, including the publication of vernacular newspapers and the use of other kinds of media to revive the fortunes of the endangered languages.
We simply cannot let our indigenous languages go extinct because they are an essential part of our existence. Language is not only part of our cultural heritage, it is the medium for the transmission of our culture. It gives meaning to our existence. It defines and identifies who we are as a people.
While we cannot do much now about our colonial heritage which foisted English Language on us at the expense of our indigenous languages, it will be irresponsible of us if we continue to perpetuate the colonial elevation of this foreign language, while promoting the demise of our own mother tongues.
We appear to have forgotten that English Language was used to facilitate the colonisation of our people. Numerous studies by educationists have proved that Nigerian children, like children everywhere, tend to learn better when taught in their mother tongues. These scientific findings have justified the universal push to teach science and mathematics in indigenous languages, a policy which the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, recently advocated.
We support the minister’s recommendation. Nigerians need to speak with their children in their various indigenous languages, to encourage them to value the language as part of their heritage. Vernacular newspapers will also go a long way in popularising our local languages, and help to keep them alive. The only snag is that they cost a great deal to sustain. When Gaskiya Tafi Kwabo was rested in 2013 after 70 years of existence, it was a big setback for the protagonists of vernacular newspapers. It was not sustainable in spite of its popularity. The Concord Group of Newspapers owned by the late Chief Moshood K.O. Abiola had three vernacular titles, Amana for Hausa readers, Isokan in Yoruba, and Udoka in Igbo language. Like other titles in the group, they did not survive. Today, Leadership Hausa is probably the lone surviving vernacular newspaper and it is published only on the Internet. Vernacular papers, therefore, need support and generous funding for their establishment and sustenance until they can become financially independent.
Other media such as books, novels, drama and plays should be used to popularize local languages, especially among young Nigerians. Some years ago, Igbo plays on the radio were so compelling that listeners looked forward to them. Yoruba dramatic artistry popularised the theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. The Ogunde Theatre became an institution by itself. Thus, we can produce vernacular media which can hold attention, inform, entertain, educate and be economically viable. In this era of movies, we can only say more grease to the elbows of our vernacular film and music directors and producers. Some of their productions are compelling.
Whichever media we choose, the ultimate aim is that our local languages should be kept alive. This is an existential imperative because it is the best medium for the transmission of our culture. We must encourage our children to communicate in these languages – speaking, reading and writing them. We should also encourage our educational institutions to instruct the very young ones in our mother tongues. We should encourage activities such as reality shows, beauty contests, writing contests and drama competitions in our local languages. The government can institute prizes for good creative works – novels, drama and poetry – in indigenous languages, to promote the understanding and use of these languages.
We also need to encourage writers in vernacular to produce great works that incorporate our idioms, proverbs, traditional arts and the native wisdom of our people without which we will lose the civilisation of our forefathers, and sadly, our own identity.