A Cry For Help: Stakeholder Task Federal and State Governments To Make Indigenous Language Development National Issue In Nigeria

Josiah Chijindu Egbilika

A Linguist and indigenous language advocate, Mr. Josiah Egbilika has called on the Federal and State Governments to prioritize indigenous language development as a national problem in Nigeria.

Mr. Egbilika lamented on the continuous neglect towards language development from both national and States' budgets. According to him, there is no way the about 527 languages in Nigeria can be truly developed and properly documented without money.

The Indigenous Language Advocate pointed out regrettably that the Twenty-Eight point Seven Trillion Naira (N28.7 trillion) budget passed by the Tinubu led administration did not cover the development of indigenous languages in Nigeria and the main reason for this continuous neglect is because government after government has not seen the need to make language development a national issue.

Unfortunately, the rate at which Nigerian languages are going into extinction is alarming. According to the Linguist, no language in Nigeria is spared from being extinct if serious and drastic measures are not taken.

He pointed out that if our languages go into extinction, the nation will loose all its cultural heritages and the identity that makes Nigeria unique.

He called on the Federal and State Governments to take it as a necessity to prioritize indigenous language development as a form of preserving culture and the people they have sworn to lead.

Comments

A Global Call To Protect The Child's Right To Indigenous Language

by: Josiah Egbilika It is a well and known fact in Nigeria that May 27 of every year is used to celebrate the importance and existence of children. The day was set aside as a universal children's day every November 20 in 1954 but was first established for May 27 in Nigeria after the degree of 1964. The essence of the day is to create and enhance awareness of the rights of children in the society so everyone will adore and respect these rights and ensure children have a better growing life. Unfortunately, recent accounts have revealed a massive downplay to the protection of the rights of children in the country. A United Nations report shows that six out of every ten children experience some form of violence, one in four girls and ten per cent of boys have been victims of sexual violence with 23 million girls forced to child marriage. Beyond these abuses, one of such rights of the child that have received low attention over the years is the right to indigenous language. The right to...

Babies Learn Language Earlier Than We Realized, Study Reveals

By Eylem Altuntas Babies are like little detectives, constantly piecing together clues about the world around them. If you've ever noticed your baby staring at you while you talk, it's because they're picking up on more than just sounds – they're learning how those sounds are made. Our recent study, published in Developmental Science, shows this amazing process starts as early as four months old, shaking up the old belief that babies learn these patterns only after tuning in to their native language between 6 and 12 months of age. It also gives us an earlier window to help children who might be at risk of speech or language delays. Sorting through a buffet of sounds By their first birthday, babies are already fine-tuning their ears to the sounds of their native language in a process called perceptual attunement. Think of it like their brain sorting through a buffet of sounds to focus on the ones that matter most. But in their first six months, babies can tell apart soun...

ACHIEVING AN ALL INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

By Josiah Egbilika Linguist, Indigenous Language Advocate Every 21st February, the world celebrates the international mother tongue day. This day is set aside to create awareness of the necessity of indigenous languages and why the globe should have language tolerance noting that despite the differences in our languages, we are one. This year, the celebration is special as it marks the 25th year, silver jubilee of the celebration of the international mother tongue day which was adopted by united nations in 2000 after been initiated by Bangladesh the year before. This therefore calls for a reflection to the Nigerian situation. For 25 years, what has Nigeria achieved, how have we felt in terms of language development and sustainability? While there may seems to be more negatives to the questions above, there are actually some positives we as a nation has achieved. The past 25 years, Nigeria has developed some language policies to help the development of indigenous languages. There i...

Language Health

Search This Blog