Academic leaders in Nigeria have expressed concerns that policy reversals and social dynamics favouring English are endangering the country's cultural heritage and undermining cognitive development in the education system. The warning was given at the fifth conference of the International Association of Language Educators (IALE), hosted at Crawford University in Ogun State. The conference examined how Nigeria can transform its multilingualism into a driver of cognitive wealth and sustainable education.
The conference, themed 'The question of medium of instruction in the quest for sustainable education,' brought together linguists, scholars, and university administrators to discuss the issue. Stakeholders called for an overhaul of how indigenous languages are taught and valued in the Nigerian education system. They proposed strategies such as establishing structured trans-languaging frameworks to teach complex concepts like STEM in mother tongues.
The keynote speaker, Prof. Graceful Ofoedu, emphasised that multilingualism must be recognised as national wealth rather than a systemic burden. She stated that early childhood instruction in a child's native language sharpens cognitive competence and critical thinking, establishing a flexible base for future learning. Ofoedu also challenged educators to bypass bureaucratic delays through digital grassroots action.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Solomon Makinde, described the 2022 policy reversal as a grave error that threatens the survival of indigenous languages. He said the policy, which mandated native language instruction in early basic education, was celebrated as a vital step for cultural preservation. Makinde rejected the practice of labelling native Nigerian languages as vernacular, a term historically used to imply inferior or unofficial speech.
Makinde declared that Nigerian leaders should be able to address international bodies like the United Nations in Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo, utilising real-time translation technology to project national sovereignty on the global stage. The President of IALE, Prof D. O. Fakeye, said the association aligns with the Nigerian Academy of Education in opposing the government's stance, citing decades of research-backed evidence on the benefits of native mother tongues.
Professor of Communication and Language Arts at the University of Ibadan, Prof. Nkechi Christopher, noted that official mandates will achieve nothing unless Nigerian society actively increases the practical value of mother tongues in daily economic and civic life. Christopher highlighted a fundamental hypocrisy in the national debate, where few choose to enrol their wards in schools that teach in local languages.
The academics proposed strategies to combat societal stigma attached to local languages, including creating economic incentives and deploying open-source educational technology tools and native artificial intelligence models to preserve under-resourced mother tongues. The conference aimed to transform Nigeria's multilingualism into a driver of cognitive wealth and sustainable education.
Key points
- The reversal of Nigeria's language policy threatens the survival of indigenous languages and undermines cognitive development in the education system.
- Academics propose strategies such as trans-languaging frameworks and economic incentives to promote the use of mother tongues in education.
- The use of mother tongues in early childhood instruction can sharpen cognitive competence and critical thinking, establishing a flexible base for future learning.
