ABUJA – Some culture experts on Monday called on the Federal Government to draw up promotional programme for Nigerian indigenous languages.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the progrmmes would help in reviving languages and stop them from going into extinction.
The Coordinator of a non-governmental organisation, Good Access, Mrs Adama Ahmed, warned against the looming extinction of Nigerian languages from failure of speaking the languages.
Ahmed stressed the need for parents to speak the language as non-speaking of the language was capable of wiping it.
The coordinator of the non-governmental organisation said the country would achieve a greater level of development using the mother tongue.
She suggested that the government should make the study of the three Nigerian indigenous languages compulsory from the primary school level to higher institutions.
“This is to ensure that the younger generation understands the language from the early state of their lives.
“As a matter of fact, it will also ensure the promotion of easy communication among the various ethnic groups in the country,’’ she said.
Mr Stephen Adeolu, Coordinator, Global Vision, decried the spate at which the elites view their languages as inferior to the foreign language.
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Adeolu noted that most elites did not consider speaking their indigenous languages in their homes neither do they train their children with it.
According to him, indigenous languages should be made as a medium of instructions in schools as this will promote the development of languages in Nigeria.
“It will be very good if the higher institutions can make compulsory the study of the indigenous languages as one of its general courses.
“This will give Nigerians students the opportunity of learning the culture of other people,’’ Adeolu said.
He said language was a versatile medium binding people with common mother tongue and noted that globalisation had eroded the country’s culture.
“Advancement in technology also required a progressive indigenous language society.’’
This, he said, would be obtained through programmes of learning that would facilitate the speaking of mother tongue.
He, however, called on parents, especially mothers, to encourage the teaching of local languages for its speedy revival. (NAN)
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