Skip to main content

International Women's Day: Women All Over The World Tasked To Champion Campaign On The Development Of Indigenous Languages

By

Josiah Chijindu Egbilika

In commemorating the international women's day celebrated March 8 every year, a Nigerian Linguist and Indigenous Language Advocate, Josiah Egbilika has tasked women all over the world to be at the forefront of campaign for the development and sustenance of Indigenous Languages.

With this year's theme, invest in women: Accelerate progress which focuses on diversity and empowerment, Mr. Egbilika stated that one of the ways women's progress acceleration can be said to be holistic is when their identity is not lost and if language is lost, no matter the amount of  empowerment, there will still be a missing gap.

Josiah Chijindu Egbilika, Linguist and Indigenous Language Advocate 

The Indigenous Language Advocate urged women to begin the language campaign by carrying out sensitization and encouraging the continuous speaking of their languages in their every day activities including to their children and wards.

Mr Egbilika appreciated the fact that women are coming out and making lots of impact in the society, however stated that women should start creating programmes using the indigenous languages or programmes that are also tailored towards encouraging the development of indigenous languages.

IWD is an event celebrated on the 8th day in March every year 

The Linguist urged women to also speak out on the issue of language development same way they are speaking out about neglect and marginalization. 

He underscored that women have the capacity to change a cause, so,they should lay their voices towards ensuring that their indigenous languages do not go into extinction.

IWD 2024 theme - Invest in women: Accelerate progress 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

20 More Nigerian Words Included In Oxford Dictionary

by: Josiah Egbilika  Just like in 2020 when 29 Nigerian words, such as danfo, okada, next tomorrow, and mama put were included in the Oxford Dictionary, another milestone has been achieved in 2025 as The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added a more collection of Nigerian words to its latest update. In this latest update, 20 new words were included into the dictionary with majority of them from being lexicons from Nigerian Pidgin.  The words added to the dictionary include: 1. 419 2. abi 3. adire 4. agbero 5. area boy 6. cross-carpet 7. cross-carpeting 8. eba 9. Edo 10. gele 11. jand (noun, verb) 12. janded (adjective) 13. Japa (noun, verb) 14. Kanuri 15. Kobo 16. Naija 17. suya 18. Yahoo 19. Yahoo boy, and 20. Yarn Dust These additions showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity, daily life, and street culture while highlighting the rising influence of Nigerian Pidgin across Africa and beyond. The 20 included words are in addition to at least 57 Nigerian words already in the dic...

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...