New Telegraph 
As the dust raised by the scrapping of the National Language Policy gradually settles, stakeholders have expressed fears about widening educational gap and threat of extinction of more indigenous languages. In this report, LADESOPE LADELOKUN highlights the beauties of Nigerian languages and the need to protect them
In his days as one of Nigeria’s influential rights activists and educators, the late Tai Solarin expressed concern about the preference for colonial languages in Africa as primary mediums of instruction in schools at the expense of indigenous languages.
According to him, the Nigerian child will never imbibe to the fullest every strand of education in a foreign language because education is far beyond just speaking English. Specifically, The New York Times quoted him as saying:
“It has already bothered me on looking at a map of the world that, of all lands, only Black Africa starts a child’s education in a language other than his mother’s.”
Meanwhile, contrary to the argument that making the English Language the first Language a child speaks enhances proficiency in the language, a former Education Minister and educationist, the late Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, had argued that having a perfect grasp of the mother tongue, “makes teaching of the English Language, German and other languages easier.”
He had said: “According to psychologists, the 12 years of a child’s education are most critical, and all I’m saying is that within those early years, he must be himself. And once he has a good grounding in the mother tongue and develops selfconfidence in himself, then it will be easier to teach him English, Latin, German, or whatever.
“In Europe, in America, in Japan, the average child goes to school in the language that he grows up with, from primary all the way up to the university. It is only those of us who are products of colonialism, whether in Asia or Africa, who are forced to go to school in a language different from our own.”
In a document released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to commemorate the International Mother Tongue Day in 2016, Fafunwa’s argument that primary school children were better taught in indigenous languages got a mention to explain their(indigenous languages) importance to effective learning at the elementary level.
The paper further stated that being taught in a language different from the mother tongue could negatively impact children’s learning. “The six-year primary project in Ife (Osun State of Nigeria) used Yoruba as a medium of instruction for six years of primary education.
Evaluations of the project found that students who switched to English after six years of mother tongue instruction, performed better in English and other subjects, compared with those who did so after three years,” the document read.
In an attempt to showcase the richness and the expressive power of Nigerian languages in a song that featured Afrobeat creator, Fela Kuti, masked musician, Lagbaja, in his “Vernacular” song, sought to know the English translations of some Yoruba expressions not known to have English descriptions when he sang: “Ekaabo na welcome, wetin be eku Ile o?…Oya, take Oyinbo translate onyimu simi”
Mother tongue affecting learning outcomes, promoting mass failure – Minister
Despite being in existence since the 1970s but reinforced in 2022, the National Language Policy(NLP), which was originally intended to promote and preserve indigenous languages, was recently scrapped by Education Minister, Maruf Tunji Alausa.
The NLP provided that from early childhood education to primary six, the language of instruction should be in the mother tongue or language of the immediate community of the young learner. It, however, made the English Language the official language in subsequent stages of education. Meanwhile, at a recent event, Alausa traced the abysmal performance of students in public examinations to being taught in their mother tongue.
The minister added that the English Language would now be the language of instruction in Nigerian schools, from primary to tertiary levels. “We have seen mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO and JAMB in certain geopolitical 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.
The national policy on language has been cancelled. English now stands as the medium of instruction from the pre-primary, primary, junior secondary, senior secondary up 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, ” he declared.
What data say
In a position paper presented by Alausa and seen by Sunday Telegraph, the minister detailed how a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)2023 data showed how the numeracy and literacy rates remained the lowest in the North West, followed by North East and North Central despite reported adoption of local languages as the main language of instruction in a great number of schools in the regions.
In the North West, for instance, the literacy rate is 9.4 per cent, while the numeracy rate is 8.3 per cent. In the North East, literacy and numeracy rates are 12.7 per cent and 10.7 per cent respectively.
Following the same pattern, the literacy rate in the North Central is 24.3 per cent and the numeracy rate is 22.7 per cent. For the South West, South East and South South, the literacy and numeracy rates respectively are: South West- (45.8,46.7 per cent); South East – (55.8, 52.0 per cent); South South- (37.0, 34.0 per cent)
Northern teachers voice concerns
Mohamed Idris is a Basic Science teacher at Government Day Junior Secondary School, Sabon Layi, Potiskum, Yobe State. In a chat with Sunday Telegraph, he expressed scepticism about the implementation of the policy in educationally disadvantaged states.
“This policy will be too hard for our students to cope with. How do you expect someone that has been getting knowledge in their mother tongue to suddenly stop? Do you think that will stop? Do you think that will be possible in Nigeria, mostly in the Northern part of the country? Except you are in a top grade school,” he said.
On what the government should do to assist educationally disadvantaged states, Idris called for the adoption of indigenous languages for external examinations, saying the challenge the English Language poses to learning is not limited to the Northern part of Nigeria.
“I learnt something from my teacher in my NCE days. He said understanding a question was crucial to answering an examination question.
For you to give any meaningful answer to a question, you must first understand the question. If the question is not well understood, I don’t think there will be a possibility that someone will have an insight into what they want to answer. I think that’s a serious issue.
The problem is in the whole country, even in the Southern part, there are some areas where the mother tongue is used to communicate in schools. Nigeria is a very complex country. I suggest that external examinations also be written in local languages.
For example, I tried a lot, jumping from one place to another to learn the little English Language I speak. In the environment I grew up in, it is difficult for people to speak English the way I do. “ Also, a Physics teacher, Abubakar Adamu, at Government Science and Technical College, Potiskum, Yobe State, said: “It is hard to implement. Most of our students don’t understand English.
If you teach them in the English Language, you have to explain in Hausa Language for them to understand. They don’t understand basic English except you speak Hausa. It is a big problem. These people were not taught in English right from basic classes. So, they can’t suddenly understand.
Even the Hausa Language that is the general language here is still not understood by some because they came from villages. They only understand their dialect because that is the only language they have been exposed to all their lives. So, it is a big problem. It is too late to start that.”
‘Reversal recognition of Nigeria’s complexity’
For education expert, Dr Aliyu Tilde, the reversal of the NLP is a welcome development, stating that what Nigeria needs now is to improve the quality of schools and fetch qualified teachers. In an interview with the BBC, he said: “Does Nigeria have trained teachers to teach in the dozens of indigenous languages in the country? The answer is no. Also, the major exams like WAEC, JAMB are all in English and not in those mother tongue languages.
I think what’s needed is to improve the quality of our schools is bringing in qualified teachers.” Commenting, public affairs analyst, Tosin Adeoti, said that the government’s reversal was not a rejection of indigenous identity but a recognition of the complexity of Nigeria.
He said: “In countries like Tanzania or Rwanda, where Swahili and Kinyarwanda are used nationally and regionally, mother-tongue instruction works because mobility does not disrupt learning. Nigeria’s linguistic landscape is entirely different.”
He continued: “Every major gatekeeper of academic progression in Nigeria, from WAEC to JAMB to university instruction, is conducted 100 per cent in English.
Expecting children to learn science, mathematics, literature, and literacy in an indigenous language, only to suddenly switch to English at the point of transition, is setting them up for difficulty. A parent once put it to me simply, ‘English is a global language that is used everywhere. It’s better for these kids to start early.’
“This is practicality. Nigeria participates in a global economy. Our students apply to universities in Liverpool, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Toronto and Dubai. English proficiency is not merely helpful. It is essential for global competitiveness.”
Undermining cultural, intellectual heritage
In its reaction, the Society of Nigeria Theatre Artists (SONTA), said the National Language Policy was designed to promote mother-tongue-based multilingual education, ensuring that children receive instruction in the language of their immediate environment during their first six years of basic education.
According to a statement signed by SONTA President, Prof Tunji Azeez, the artists stated that language was not merely a tool of communication; it is the vessel through which a people preserve identity, transmit values, and project their worldview, noting that to dismiss the policy is to undermine the very foundation of Nigeria’s cultural and intellectual heritage. “We remind the Ministry of Education and the NCE that the NLP is the product of over four decades of rigorous research and consultation across the educational sector.
Its cancellation disregards the collective efforts of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, who worked to safeguard Nigeria’s linguistic diversity. The inability of children to communicate or excel academically in their mother tongue is not a justification for abandoning the policy; rather, it underscores the urgent need for its full implementation.
Global research, including UNESCO guidelines, affirms that mother-tongue instruction enhances comprehension, cognitive development, and cultural confidence.
UNESCO’s proclamation of International Mother Language Day (21st February) further highlights the global consensus on the importance of indigenous languages in education and cultural preservation.” He continued: “The cancellation of the NLP risks accelerating the extinction of minority languages, stripping Nigeria of its rich cultural diversity.
English remains a colonial language; to elevate it exclusively is to tether Nigeria to colonial legacies at a time when nations worldwide are asserting their cultural independence…
Preserving the National Language Policy is essential to protecting Nigeria’s cultural heritage and securing the future of generations yet unborn. Nigeria must not become a laughingstock, clinging to colonial apron strings while the world advances toward cultural self-assertion and preservation.”
Advisers of policy makers need to return to school – Ogudoro
Speaking in an interview with Sunday Telegraph, education researcher, Dr. Peter Ogudoro, faulted the claim of the education minister that mass failure in public examinations could be traced to the language of instruction, stating that it has a lot to do with the pedagogy employed in the classrooms.
He said: “It is interesting to hear that the use of mother tongue to educate children, especially at pre-school level, is now associated with mass failure in public examinations. We don’t have evidence that supports that conclusion.
I think that whatever data the people who are proposing that idea are relying on to reach this conclusion would be data they have misinterpreted. I think the people advising the policy makers are individuals, who are probably due to return to school.”
He further stated: “I think what they have looked at is the data coming from correlational study, where they have realised that in places where a lot of students fail examinations, especially children taught in their mother tongue. They didn’t interrogate the data further to find out if the use of mother tongue is the reason students are failing examinations. If you do my kind of work as an education researcher, what you will discover is that the reason students fail has little or nothing to do with the language of instruction.
It has a lot to do with the pedagogy employed in the classrooms where children are learning.” Ogudoro described as shallow and scandalous, the conclusion that teaching in local languages was responsible for mass failure in public examinations.
“It has become obvious to us that we are not getting it right in the Northeast, we are not getting it right in the Northwest, especially in terms of security. Even though the people who are coming up with this conclusion have not told us the specific regions, we know that they are referring to the North. What you find is that the best brains are no longer willing to function in the classrooms in those places because it has become very dangerous to do their job in those places. That should not be difficult for anyone to understand.
“The very competent teachers can no longer operate in that environment. It is scandalous that we are hearing highly placed individuals reach such conclusions in a modern society. If our colleagues in societies, especially Europe and North America hear that that is the conclusion we are reaching, they will consider Nigeria a very backward country.” “In the UK, where English came from, children are still taught in Welsh.”
Ogudoro wondered why Nigeria is abolishing its indigenous languages in schools for the English Language, even when the United Kingdom, where Nigeria got the language, has not abandoned its indigenous languages. Citing the example of Wales, he asserted :
“The truth we should know is that there is so much ignorance regarding even what happens in the UK. The UK is the home of the English Language. If you go to the UK, it has four parts. There is England, who are the owners of the language.
There is Wales, the people speak Welsh; there is Scotland and there is Northern Ireland. I studied in England and I had the opportunity to go to other parts of the UK. I did some research in Wales, where people speak Welsh. So, if you go to Wales, which is a significant portion of the UK, what you find is that children at kindergarten stages in the education system are taught in Welsh.
That’s the country where English comes from. If you talk to your friends, who study in the UK, and they tell you their university is in Wales, they would tell you that if they offer you an admission, your admission letter will come in English and Welsh languages. Even in their universities, they make use of their language, not just at the elementary school.
They don’t want to lose their heritage. How can a country of 250 million people in the year 2025 be saying it is throwing away over 250 languages that constitute a significant part of their culture?” Confirming the supremacy of indigenous languages, he added: “There are things you can’t learn in languages that are not indigenous to you, no matter how hard you try.
Our children must be taught in indigenous languages, especially in the North, where they don’t even have competent teachers, who can start the journey for them in the English Language. Most of the parents are illiterate in English Language. It does not mean they are illiterate in other languages. Some of them are literate in Arabic.”
Nigerian languages as endangered species
With the reversal of the NLP, there are concerns that Nigeria stands the risk of losing more of its indigenous languages. A study by UNESCO reveals that 29 Nigerian minor languages have become extinct and another 29 minor languages are in danger of being extinct, noting that three Nigerian languages – Yoruba, Igbo and Itshekiri- are also endangered.
Baring his mind on how the Nigerian child could be negatively impacted in an interview with a national newspaper (not Sunday Telegraph),National President of Early Childhood Association of Nigeria (ECAN), Prof. Babajide Abidogun, said: “In the long run, children from rural or indigenous communities, who are not proficient in English may face greater educational challenges.
This policy could widen the educational gap, leaving behind students, who struggle with English language acquisition, leading to English and losing proficiency in their mother tongues.
This would have broader social and cultural implications, as many of Nigeria’s indigenous languages are already at risk of extinction due to the dominance of global languages like English.”
