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The fate of our languages was brought into focus
recently during the second International Conference on the Extinction
of Igbo Language held in Owerri, Imo State. The Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Chukwuemeka Wogu, who represented President Goodluck
Jonathan, made a revelation that should not surprise anyone.

Quoting the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr. Wogu said that the Igbo
language might become extinct in the next fifty years.

The fact is that it is not only the Igbo language
that is under threat of extinction in the country. All our indigenous
languages are endangered species and there seem to be no visible
efforts to rescue them. A few years back Babatunde Fafunwa, a professor
of education and one-time minister of education conducted a controlled
research in Ife where some pupils were taught all subjects, including
the sciences, in Yoruba and the others in English. At the end of the
experiment both groups were examined and those taught in Yoruba
performed better than those who had their lessons in English. At the
end of the experiment Mr. Fafunwa campaigned for the adoption of
indigenous languages as medium of instruction in schools across the
country. His recommendation was implemented for a while, and then
abandoned.

The endangered status of our indigenous languages
has become more pronounced in the new world order, represented by
globalisation, and with the advent of the borderless Internet, which
has succeeded in giving English fresh dominance at the expense of our
local languages.

This is mistaken. In Japan children are taught all
subjects including the core sciences in Japanese and the country today
is a leader in the all facets of science and arts. Russia too has
demonstrated this in its arts and literature.

Its world renowned writers such as Leo Tolstoy,
Fyodor Dostoevsky and a host of others wrote in their native languages
and attained world fame based on the translations of their works.

In Africa, this debate has been ongoing and a
writer such as Ngugi wa’ Thiongo has since decided to write in his
native Gikuyu language and translate to English later.

In recent times some State Houses of Assembly have
resolved to conduct debates in local dialects as a way of encouraging
the revival of the local tongue. In Anambra State, Governor Peter Obi
has outlawed the treatment of Igbo as ‘vernacular’ in public schools,
while his Edo counterpart Adam Oshiomhole has advocated the teaching of
Edo language at both primary and secondary school levels.

We appreciate these gestures but the way to
achieve what they intend goes beyond tokenism. Structures must be put
in place to help achieve the aim. For example literature publishing in
local languages should receive government support.

The huge task ahead is however not for the
government alone; parents and teachers have important roles to play as
well. The idea of treating our local languages as inferior to English
or any other foreign language must be discouraged.

Language is bound up with our history and identity and our sense of
who we are as a people. Our local languages must not be allowed to
succumb to the ravaging flood of globalisation. We must not allow our
local languages to die and end up on the UNESCO’s listing of ‘dead’
languages. This can – and will – happen if we fail to speak our
languages, and to teach our children to speak and to write them.