An author, Solomon Atala, has advocated the use of indigenous languages for teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools.Atala, who made the call at the unveiling of his book: The first language, Our hope: Ideas towards a great Africa,’ in Lagos, wondered why the Federal Government has failed to implement the policy announced in December 2022.
The writer lamented that Africa has remained generally underdeveloped because education is on the wrong pedestal in foreign languages. Atala said Africans must return their languages to the place of pride, saying this informed his decision to write the book to promote the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in schools.
He said: “I concluded that Africa is not modern because the continent has not used its first languages as medium of instruction in schools as done by others since the Renaissance.
“As I continued to research earlier efforts to validate my advocacy, I read about the experiment of Prof. Babs Fafunwa from 1970 to 1978, with some students in now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. His experiment affirmed that students would do better when educated in their mother tongues.”
Atala, while speaking with journalists on the sideline of the presentation, argued that students would learn better when taught in their indigenous languages.
Although he admitted that getting teachers to take the subjects could be difficult, Atala, however, noted that these shortcomings could be addressed with determination and political will to do so.
In his review, Professor of English, Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Tayo Ogunlewe, said the book is a timely and seemingly significant contribution towards the debate and advocacy for mother tongue education.
“Ogunlewe described it as a call for recognition of not just the mother tongue, but re-assessment of values, and the need for better recognition and valuation of indigenous African knowledge systems.”
He added that the book would be most useful for first language activists, indigenous knowledge systems advocates, linguistics scholars, educational policy planners and the general public.
Atala attended St Peter’s Primary School, Erinmo-Ijesa from 1959 to 1964, and between 1966 to 1970, he had his secondary school education at Methodist High School, Ibadan. He attended the University of Maryland, Princess Ann, Maryland in 1975.
