Stakeholders comprising the Chief Executive Officer of Prakis Educational Services, Prof. Aderemi Obilana, and the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) have called on the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to immediately reverse the suspension of the 2022 National Language Policy.
Obilana, who doubles as a Visiting Professor, University Institute of Applied and Human Sciences, Republic of Chad, as well as an independent contractor at the University of South Africa, urged the Nigerian government to emulate countries like China, Singapore, South Africa and Finland, where indigenous languages are effectively integrated into the education system.
In a statement yesterday, the academic described halting of implementation of the National Language Policy (NLP) as premature, unfounded, and harmful to Nigeria’s cultural and educational development.
Recall that the minister had last week announced cancellation of the language policy, citing poor student performance in WAEC, NECO and JAMB examinations.
But Obilana argued that the decision was not only misleading but also failed to reflect global research and best practices in education. According to him, there is no empirical basis to conclude that indigenous language instruction negatively impacted the performance of candidates in national examinations.
He noted that, contrary to the minister’s position, substantial evidence shows that children taught in their mother tongue during foundational schooling develop stronger reading comprehension skills.
He cited UNESCO’s position during the 25th anniversary of International Mother Language Day, which reaffirmed that instruction in indigenous languages enhances learning outcomes and cognitive development.
HURIWA, on its part, threatened to initiate a suit to challenge what it called the government’s sponsored cultural, scientific and educational suicide by the abolition of teaching of Nigerian school children in their mother tongue.
It argued that the decision has put Nigeria’s cultural, educational, and scientific advancements 100 years behind those of contemporary civilisations.
HURIWA urged the Houses of Assembly to legislate the use of mother tongue policy in the early education of children into laws in their respective states.
The group said it had begun discussions with approximately 200 lawyers nationwide and leaders of cultural organisations to prevent President Bola Tinubu from making a decision that would be implementable in Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and many other modern, highly sophisticated nations, which would encourage inclusion.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said: “Does it even make sense to teach our children in a foreign language of English when most of the greatest scholars and thinkers, whose works we use in schools, initiated these intellectual works and inventions in their distinctive mother tongue because not all scientists are from England neither are all the Mathematics experts come from England. Why compel Nigerians to learn in the language of the English people? This is cultural defeatism and annihilation.”
