The Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) has called on the Federal Government to redesign the Mother Tongue Policy, rather than abolishing it. The policy, which was introduced to promote the use of local languages in education, has been criticized for not being effective in achieving its goals. At its 28th convocation, induction of new members, and investiture of regular and honorary fellows, the NAL proposed a "Second Generation Mother Tongue Policy" that would serve as a path to nation-building.
According to the NAL, the Mother Tongue Policy is crucial in promoting cultural consciousness, linguistic heritage, and functional literature consumption among young people. Professor Imelda Udoh, who anchored her presentation on "The First Pathway To Nation-Building," noted that the policy draws attention to the mooring infrastructure of a nation. She emphasized that mother tongue education is essential in grounding children and inducting them into human beings distinct from animals.
The NAL also emphasized the need to fund the Mother Tongue Policy to boost the self-esteem of Nigerian children. Professor Vicky Sylvester, who anchored her presentation on "Policy and Practice Mismatch," noted that the Federal Government is ignoring the fulcrum of mother tongue practice as enunciated by UNESCO in 1953. She emphasized that developing contents in this age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be very original and greatly universalisable if mother tongue practice is well planned.
The Academy also highlighted the importance of epistemic order and pluriversalism in promoting the values of African languages. Professor Yinusa Salami noted that the epistemic values and contents of mother tongues must be isolated and uploaded into a universal database. This, he emphasized, requires research and producing good curricula to do that. It must not be just a translation from European languages to the mother tongue or vice-versa.
The NAL also cited examples of countries that have successfully implemented mother tongue policies to promote nation-building. In Ethiopia, for example, the official languages are Ethiopian languages, with a dominant one known as Amharic. Each of the official languages takes care of its region of origin and educates its citizen along the local needs of Ethiopia. A similar approach has been adopted in Ghana and Senegal, where local languages are used to promote development in rural areas.
The induction ceremony also honored notable individuals, including the El-Kanemi of Borno, HRH Shehu of Borno, who was bestowed with an honorary fellowship. Tunde Kelani received the Humanistic Practice Award, while Professor Emeritus Femi Osofisan was awarded the Distinguished Life Fellow. The event also saw the induction of 46 new members and the crowning of 10 fellows.
The Nigerian Academy of Letters has emphasized that Africa's problem is more of humans and their environment cohesion than deep science and technology. According to G.S. Ibileye, "what does a camera see that a historian cannot name, and what does a drone detect that a linguist cannot read… if the spokesperson of the armed forces cannot interpret what the sensors have detected." The Academy's call for a redesign of the Mother Tongue Policy is seen as a step towards promoting nation-building and humanistic education in Nigeria.
Key points
- The Nigerian Academy of Letters has called on the Federal Government to redesign the Mother Tongue Policy to promote nation-building and cultural consciousness.
- The policy should be redesigned to serve as a path to nation-building, as seen in Ethiopia, Senegal, South Africa, and Chad.
- The Academy emphasized the need to fund the Mother Tongue Policy to boost the self-esteem of Nigerian children and promote humanistic education.
