Not long ago, I read a story in the media about the effort of the Bayelsa State government to ensure Ijaw language does not die. The government has earmarked money to sponsor Nollywood films done in Ijaw language.
The initiative brought back to the fore the sorry state of our local languages. From Yoruba to Igbo, Hausa and others, damage has been done to these languages. Line up children between the ages of five and 15, from any of our ethnic groups, and ask them to speak their language, chances are that they cannot. In fact, not a few children have been known to react to their local languages when spoken by others as ‘nonsense’.
The foundation for the mess that our languages have become was built in schools, where natives languages were barred and regarded as vernacular. Students were even punished for speaking their mother tongues. The practice is still prevalent today. Schools still forbid mother tongues. It is even worse with the private schools, where Yoruba, Igbo and others are not even taught. Only few private schools teach these languages. English is the better for it. Some even teach French.
As if speaking in mother tongue is a plague, many parents have stopped speaking to their children and wards in their mother tongue, thus helping to swell the number of endangered languages compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). A directive from the National Education Research Council (NERC) has further harmed indigenous languages. NERC, citing the need to reduce the number of subjects students offer, ruled that indigenous languages should be removed from the list of compulsory subjects at the secondary school level.
UNESCO recently warned that if nothing is done, about half of the over 6,000 languages spoken in the world will disappear by the end of the 21st century. Nigerian languages are among the endangered ones.
Already, according to UNESCO, eight Nigerian mother tongues are extinct. They are the Ajawa (Bauchi State); Auyokawa (Jigawa State); Basa-Gumna(Niger and Nasarawa states); Gamo-Ningi (Ningi Local Government, Bauchi State); Kpati, Kubi, Mawa (Bauchi State) and Teshenawa (Jigawa State) languages.
Interestingly, the emphasis on English language has not reflected in the number of candidates who pass the language in terminal examinations, such as the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE). The 2012 result shows that 771,731 candidates, representing 46.14 per cent, obtained six credits and above; 952,156 candidates, representing 56,93 per cent, obtained five credits and above; while 1,107,747, representing 66.24 per cent, obtained credits in four subjects.
But, only 649,156 candidates, representing 38.81 per cent, obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
The results of the two previous years, as regard passing English, were worse. May be the students would have done better if they understand their mother tongues better. Some experts say there is a correlation between this.
But there is hope in the sense that outside of Nigeria, local languages, especially Yoruba are being taken seriously.
As a result of a requirement that makes every American college undergraduate to gain proficiency in at least one international language before being certified worthy in learning and character, there is a partnership between the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State, and the American Council for International Education (ACIE), Washington DC, US. The agreement, which dates back to 2009, encourages American students who wish to learn Yoruba language and culture. Known as the Yoruba Language Flagship Programme (YLFP), which gave birth to the Yoruba Language Centre (YLC), the programme has helped Americans to learn Yoruba, which our people are ignorantly avoiding.
Also, the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, through an initiative called Foreign Language Teaching Assistants, is aiding young speakers of Yoruba and Hausa languages who have educational background in English or language arts. They are recruited as teaching assistants to teach their languages and cultures to American students in the US universities and colleges. Many American universities and colleges, such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Cornel University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Massachusetts, Indiana University in Bloomington, Ohio State University, Michigan State University, Ohio University, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaig and Howard University run full-fledged degree programmes in Yoruba language, which we are running from.
But charity must begin at home. It will not augur well for us to get to a situation where foreigners will be more proficient in our languages. That is why I applaud the initiative to promote Ijaw language. We need more of that. We should also end the era of Yoruba films, with diluted English.
The NERC must urgently make the offering of at least one local language compulsory for students. Parents also have a role to play here. Let your children or wards learn English in school. Speak your language to them at home and let them know it is not nonsense or ‘jagajaga’ as many of them see it.
The time for action is now.
• Fadun, an Insurance Executive, writes this piece from Lagos.
