Language should not divide us — Haruna

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Gashua, Yobe State, Prof. Andrew Haruna, has said although there are several languages in Nigeria, they do not divide the people, and it is speakers’ sentiments actually cause division.

Haruna spoke, yesterday, at the University of Jos, as a guest lecturer at a public lecture entitled, “Linguistic Problems of National Integration: Plural Loyalties in a Modernising State.”

Haruna, a Professor of Linguistics, said any language could be used to communicate, as part of human existence, but the sentiment, which speakers use, is what could cause fragmentation and problem.
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He said there was an erroneous belief against the black race that Africa’s rich linguistic and cultural heritage were useless for development, which made matters worse.

Chairman of the occasion and Executive Secretary of the
Tertiary Education Fund (TETund), Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, expressed disappointment at the way higher institutions handle projects.

Bogoro likened the slow pace of projects on campuses to corrupt practices, noting that the United States of America is a nation of immigrants, but remains one entity and united.
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