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Varsity teacher seeks execution of policy on teaching, learning of Nigerian languages

By Samuel Ifetoye
27 February 2020   |   3:24 am
Lecturer of Igbo language, Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Afoma Okudo, has stressed the need for the implementation of policy

A Lecturer of Igbo language, Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Afoma Okudo, has stressed the need for the implementation of policy on teaching and learning of Nigerian languages.

In her keynote address at the 2020 cultural day celebration of Bishop Howells Memorial Grammar School, Lagos recently, she noted that the policy guiding teaching and learning of Nigerian languages are being neglected.

Okudo noted that if implemented, it would serve as an impetus for each speaker to develop a positive attitude towards the language in terms of communicating with it.

While speaking on the topic, “Wither Nigerian languages: The way forward”, she observed that in many homes, nowadays, parents no longer interact with their children in their native languages except English Language, forgetting that the owners of the language can never accept them as the native speaker, thereby making the children become alien in their own country and in diaspora.

She also added that most Nigerian schools don’t promote the teaching, speaking and learning of Nigerian languages. She cited a country like China that speaks Chinese and not a foreign language. Government, she argued should educate parents on the need to speak the mother’s tongue to their children, right from the cradle, adding that schools must be equipped to teach Nigerian languages.

The principal of the school, Ven Tunde Oduwole stated that learning a Nigerian language could promote national integration, saying that “we are all different but culture helps to unite us.

The difference in the way we live, work and interact with one another is a result of the culture we have come to be a part of.

Speaking on the theme “Our cultures and traditions: Our great heritage, Oduwole added that culture serves as a social memory for mankind. Culture creates favourable opportunities for acquiring knowledge and physical development. Our culture, he stated determines the way we communicate with others. Language is the most important way of mastering the national culture, adding that cultural differences should be perceived as wealth, not an obstacle.

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