At the moment, a group of people called Save Our Indigenous Languages in Nigeria are organising a reality show in different indigenous languages to debate a way forward for the preservation and promotion of endangered languages in Nigeria. Edozie Udeze encountered the organiser by name Greg Ugboaja, who explained the concept and ideals of the show
For some time now, some individuals and institutions both in Nigeria and across the globe have been organising programmes and workshops to encourage people to continue to speak and communicate in their mother tongue. A few years ago, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) notified and warned the world about some endangered languages of the world. The body has made it clear that if care is not taken by 2060 more local languages of the world will go extinct.
What this means is that more people; more communities would have lost touch with their origin and where they are coming from. The consequent result would make more people grope uncertainly in the world without knowing what to do with their lives, without knowing the language to speak except the foreign one they already know.
But a young man called Greg Ugboaja who is now organizing a show to sensitise Nigerians on the need to push on with their various mother tongues opined that if constant attention is paid in this regard, a lot will be achieved. He has a foundation called Save Our Indigenous Languages in Nigeria (SOLN). In the past few days, he and his colleagues in the group have been putting up what he described as a contest for young people to discuss national issues in Nigeria.
“We believe we’ve talked to the governments both at the states and federal levels in the English Language, and they’ve not been listening. Now, let us try to do it in our individual local tongues to see how it works. These languages are the languages that touch the hearts. Our mother tongues know how to do the magic; how to appeal to the inner-recesses of both those who speak them and those who listen.”
Ugboaja who is not only an artiste, but also the owner of Mmilioma, a production company that encourages the art to thrive, explains why the one week programme which held at the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) Iganmu, Lagos, was being recorded for the television audience. “Yes, it is like a reality show. However, this is the pilot show, the first edition of it. What we are doing is that we are recording the pilot for TV. It is being supported by National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Living Tongue Institute for Endangered Languages from USA, and Bond FM. This is for us all to ensure we are not allowing our indigenous languages to die.”
So, how would government now begin to understand the problems of the people when spoken in local languages? “Yes Nelson Mandela said if you speak to a man in the language he understands, it goes into his head. But if you speak to him in his mother’s tongue it goes into his heart. So we feel that our governments will listen to us more when we apply this approach and method.
“When we speak to them in the language that is their own, they will know that we are serious. The English Language is no man’s Language as far as we are concerned. For this edition, therefore, we are featuring 6 languages. They include Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Idoma, Bini and Ibiobio. What we do is that we swop the languages every season. Once we are done with these, we will focus attention on more. We have over 250 languages in Nigeria and that means we have a lot to do.”
Describing it as an on-going project, Ugboaja insisted that those who participated must appear in their local attire with all the mannerisms that make the people who they are. This is to make the show a total local issue where even attendees and participants would be encouraged to respect one another’s cultural tendencies. “The project would have gone round the whole length and breadth of the country by the time we do it constantly for a while. We have to do it step by step, stage by stage, to make sure we pay enough attention to as many indigenous languages as we can.”
Although it is a pre-recorded programme, Ugboaja encouraged those involved in it to apply online first. From then on Bond FM took it up and began to hammer on it and let the people to see the need for the youths to be a part of it. Now, through the social media, people who are passionate about local languages came out to associate with it. “You can see how enthusiastic the participants are. How they are eager to prove a point. Let people go back to where they are coming from in terms of recognising that they have a language to speak. It does not diminish your person or belittle your esteem when you speak your mother tongue.
“So we are telling government that we need to rescue our languages. Look at every single industrialised nation of the world. None of them speaks in foreign language. Even America that speaks English had to Americanise it to suit their taste. India that was colonised by Britain still promotes Hindi far above the English Language. There is no industrialised nation that is moving forward today that relies on a foreign language to make it. And when you go to Europe, even very minor nations with the influence of England, still speak their local dialects. Go to Italy, go to Malta or Spain, even when Britain has influenced them one way or the other, they do not forget who they are or where they are coming from.”
There is indeed something deeply inherent in your language. It conveys a message deeper than when you want to do it in a foreign one. “You lose the total import, you lose some moral values, you lose the total original touch of an issue when you try to convey your feelings in a foreign language. Local tongues bond people together. There are some words you cannot completely translate from Igbo to English, no matter how hard you try, it will still lose its original meaning and content.”
In order to achieve this aim, the programme centres its contents on topics, on issues and themes that bother the country at the moment. Ugboaja said, “Yes we harmonise our stand by concentrating on topics like security, youth unemployment, this is a federation of different peoples, religious matters, education and so on. So, we bring people to talk on these issues through a debate in local languages. Our position is therefore presented to the government in the same languages they are made.
“As government is listening to you in Ibibio, those who come from that area in the National Assembly will be able to grasp the essence of what we have said. We are not promoting tribe per se, no. We are promoting languages. So even if you are from Akwa Ibom and you understand another local language it is an advantage. Or if it is in Yoruba you want to talk to government, you are welcome.”
In the end, these themes will be pushed to the front-burner with expectation that the governments concerned will listen and act. Those involved in the show would have also learnt one or two lessons to help Nigeria move forward.
