Language Health

 Report: Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has named gospel musician, Asu Ekiye, Ijaw Language Ambassador. Speaking on Sunday in Yenagoa during Ekiye’s musical concert and album launch tagged “Ebikamo Experience,” Governor Diri said the appointment was in recognition of his effort to preserve Ijaw language through his music and that this was in line with his administration’s vision to ensure the language does not go extinct. Describing the musician’s passion for preserving the language as commendable, he said his administration has trained Ijaw teachers and would do more to promote the language. The governor also stated that Bayelsa was peaceful because the Ijaw people were peaceful in nature and solicited their continuous support for his administration to initiate more development projects across the state. His words: I would have been here earlier but was told that the place was not ready. When it started raining, I told the Chief of Staff and SA Religion to represen...

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...

A Port Harcourt based Linguist and Indigenous Language Advocate, Mr. Josiah Egbilika has called for the adoption, acceptance and recognition of the word, ‘Endoglossophobia’, and its inclusion in the next production of various dictionaries online or hardcopies. Speaking in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Wednesday, Mr. Egbilika stated that ‘Endoglossophobia’ is not just a word, but a real-life situation which if not handled can result in the extinction of indigenous languages. Noting that the situation is not only common in Nigeria or Africa but global, the Linguist enjoined that it be given the attention it deserves. By way of definition, Egbilika who holds a Master of Arts Degree in Linguistics, defined Endoglossophobia as the feeling of unease, apprehension, worry, irritation or nervousness experienced in learning or using either in speech or writing, one’s indigenous language or dialect. The indigenous language advocate, who stated that Endoglossophobia, simply put is the...