Objections to the Development of Nigeria's Indigenous Languages: A Response. (original) (raw)

2021, TCNN Journal of Transformational Theology

When it comes to local language development in Nigeria, there is a vast gulf between policy and practice. On the one hand, Nigeria's National Policy on Education (2013) states that "every child shall be taught in the mother tongue or in the language of the immediate community for the first four years of basic education", and that to this end, the Government shall "develop the orthography of more Nigerian languages" and "produce textbooks, supplementary readers and other instructional materials in Nigerian languages." On the other hand, this is clearly not happening in most cases, and furthermore, there is a widespread belief that not only is such a policy unrealistic, but that it is essentially a bad idea both practically and theologically. Typical responses include: "Doesn't promoting the use of local languages hinder national unity or promote tribalism?"; "What use is knowing my tribal language in today's world anyway, if I can speak English and/or Hausa well?"; "Wouldn't Nigeria be better off economically if we all spoke the same language?"; "Isn't using English in multilingual schools, homes and churches the only way to include everyone?", and "Wasn't language diversity a result of God's curse at Babel, and therefore not to be encouraged?" Even in the home, parents often prefer not to use their first language with their spouse or children, assuming that it would be better to speak English (or Hausa), both for ease of communication and for the benefit of their children's education. This paper seeks to respond to these objections, and argues that the development of Nigeria's languages is indeed a good idea in all contexts, on social, educational, cognitive and theological grounds. The paper ends by giving some simple, practical steps as to how local languages can be used effectively in homes, churches and schools, even in highly multilingual, urban environments such as Jos.