The federal government has revoked the national policy that required schools to use indigenous languages as a medium of instruction.
 
Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa stated this yesterday in Abuja at the 2025 Language in Education International Conference. 
 
The government had approved a National Language Policy (NLP) in 2022, which stipulates that from Early Childhood Education to Primary Six, the language of instruction will be the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community.
 
However, speaking at the conference, Alausa stated that English is now the language of instruction in Nigerian schools, from primary to tertiary levels, lamenting that children have been performing below par in public examinations as a result of being taught in their mother tongue.
 
Justifying the revocation, he said extensive data analysis and evidence showed that the use of the mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction had negatively impacted learning outcomes in several parts of the country.
 
His words: “We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country, and those are the ones that adopted this mother tongue in an over-subscribed manner.
 
“This is about evidence-based governance. English now stands as the medium of instruction from the pre-primary, primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and to the tertiary education level. 

“Using the mother tongue language in Nigeria for the past 15 years has literally destroyed education in certain regions. We have to talk about evidence, not emotions.” 
 
The minister challenged those with opposing views to present verifiable data to support their positions, adding that the government remained open to evidence-based dialogue that would strengthen the education sector.