By Adesina Wahab

WHEN the Federal Executive Council recently approved a new National Language Policy which makes mother tongue the compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools, many people welcomed the idea, saying it is a step in the right direction. The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who briefed reporters at the end of the meeting, said it would also save Nigerian languages from extinction.

Recall that the late Prof. Babs Fafunwa, the Minister of Education in the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, championed the cause in his career as an education expert.  

Details of the policy/what it takes to implement it.

Primary school pupils will be instructed in the mother tongue of the community in which the schools are located. For instance, in a cosmopolitan place like Lagos, all pupils, irrespective of where they come from (tribe) will be instructed in Yoruba Language. This is not in any way saying other tongues are irrelevant. This is not expected to be difficult given the fact that studies have shown that when a family moves to an entirely new environment, young children are usually the first to quickly understand the new language being spoken as they mingle with their peers.

The policy does not foreclose the teaching of languages such as English and French in primary schools. But that other subjects are to be taught in mother tongue.

For now, the policy is in principle, as instructional materials and qualified teachers are not yet available.  

Advantages of the policy

The Registrar of the National Examinations Council, NECO, Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, who spoke on the sideline of a workshop on examination malpractice organised by his Council in conjunction with the National Assembly in Lagos, described it as a step in the right direction.

“It is very commendable. All great nations of the world don’t jettison their mother tongue. In the first instance, language is the heart of the culture of a people. Take away the language and the culture is dead, just as the people who own the culture. In China, during their revolution, Chairman Mao even shut down their universities for years for the reorganisation of the sector. 

“Even during the colonial era in the country, early schools set up used mother tongue to instruct the pupils. You cannot go to China or Russia or Germany to study now and say you won’t need to learn their mother tongue. It is with it that they will instruct you. In China, the minority Mandarin are also allowed to be instructed in their mother tongue too. 

“We can all see the difference in the high levels such societies are now operating. In fact, which subject do you think is difficult to learn, instruct the students in their mother tongue and you would be surprised at how quickly they would understand it. For some of our elite who think speaking mother tongue to their children would not let the children understand English Language, that is a fallacy. Some professors of Hausa Language or Yoruba Language can speak impeccable English even more than some native speakers of the language, “ he submitted.

The Lagos State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Comrade Akintoye Hassan, said pupils and students would understand better when instructed in mother tongue.

“We are here talking about curbing examination malpractice, apart from the fact that some students are lazy and they want to cut corners, the major reason students cheat is because they don’t understand what they are being taught. I can assure you that students would learn and understand better when instructed in mother tongue.

“Great nations of the world are doing that and they are making steady progress in all facets of life. We should do that and not stand against the tides. As a nation, the will to do it must be there too. Promoting our mother tongues across the country would help foster unity too. Somebody who is residing where he does not hail from and is instructed in the mother tongue of his new community is going to definitely learn certain things about his new community,” Hasan opined.

The obstacles 

For now, the development of instructional materials has not been done, while qualified teachers to perform the great task are not available yet, so the matter is still a mere paper work. But government exerting the political will to ensure the policy does not fail and the Nigerian society at large supporting it are critical, according to a culture enthusiast, Lanre Babatola.

“The Minister said the policy is for now in principle because certain things are not yet in place. That is okay. But the truth is will the government pursue efforts at making the policy real and not die a mere principle on paper? If that is done by making available the required instructional materials and helping in the training of qualified teachers, that would be great. 

“The matter also lies on the general public too. We can help the system by speaking to our children in our mother tongue. Some people who are even not proficient in English Language are confusing their children with the bastardized form of English Language they speak to them at home. The children may end up not been good in the mother tongue and English.

‘ Let me cite an instance I witnessed. A man who saw a herd of cattle coming and told his child “See Maalu”, instead of saying see cows or cattle. Our people should know there is nothing wrong with our languages. English or French are languages like Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Efik or Izon,” he said.

Educators and the generality of Nigerians are hoping that the new policy would not die prematurely or become BID, (Brought in dead) as corpses taken to hospitals are referred to.