By Olunkwa Felix
Nigerian teachers have been called upon to pay serious attention to the revival and restoration of Nigerian indigenous languages by teaching them diligently to students. Speaking at a seminar, ‘The Teachers Forum’ organised by Tchinasah Limited, they were implored to ensure that they try to put in their best on the issue of reviving our local dialects or languages that are fast going into extinction.
The convener of The Teachers Forum (Educate To Live), Maureen Awulonuh, explained what prompted her to organise the Teachers Forum. “One afternoon, as I stood in front of my office, I saw school pupils coming back from school and I told myself that I was like this some years back. Immediately this question came into my mind: ‘what are the things I wished I had known those years, what are those things I wish my teacher had taught me, what are those things I wished I saw in my teachers then and I didn’t see them?
“So I just want to replicate that and create a better education for these children I saw on the street. So what we look to achieve in this forum is to raise teachers who can stand the test of time and who can compete with other teachers around the world. We intend to extend this programme to all parts of Nigeria starting from the regions down to the 36 states of the federation”.
The seminar which held at University of Lagos had as its resource persons: Dr. Veronica Babajide, Dr. Adefunke Komolafe, Iruonagbe Emmanuel and Abiodun Kolawole. Teachers came from all over Lagos to attend the programme.