Gradual death of Nigerian indigenous languages

In a multiethnic country like Nigeria where over 521 indigenous languages are spoken, adopting a lingua franca is deemed the only way by which all the various ethnic groups could communicate and understand one another. The official language of Nigeria, English, the former colonial language, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. Therefore, English Language is to be taught as a subject right from the first year of primary education so as to firmly build a well organised grammatical structure in children. The social significance attributed to English Language is what makes it a compulsory subject in both elementary and secondary schools; hence a Nigerian student needs not to be told  that one of the conditions on which his admission to a tertiary institution hangs is to have, at least, a credit pass in English Language.

In Nigeria today, English Language has graduated from its original socialisation and communication function into one of the instruments through which a person can  show off his social standing. People now adopt the language not only to communicate, but also toimpress others with the level of fluency at which they speak it. The belief behind this is that one who speaks the language fluently is well cultured and sophisticated and this earns him more respect in the society. Hence, many families and households have purposely or unknowingly abandoned their cultural heritage in which their various indigenous languages are embedded with the adoption of the western culture as well as their language.

Nowadays, the undue priority given our lingua franca has degraded many Nigerian indigenous languages. Both young and old now seek fluency in English speaking so as to also fit in as one of the great speakers of the language, hereby disregarding their mother tongue and subsequently considering it as a language for the aged.

About a 100 years ago, most, if not all Nigerians, were fluent in their native tongue because every language spoken in each tribe was highly appreciated and cherished. But ever since the adoption of English Language as our official language, it has overshadowed all other native languages, hence, making them less required. If you look around today, you will realise that many folks that even speak their native language do not know the grammatical rules, the complete alphabets and  even how to write them correctly and this is simply as a result of the neglect these languages suffer in the society.

It is evident that in Nigeria, social groups like schools and families are the key participants in the abandonment of these indigenous languages. Most parents often do not allow their children to speak the native language because they believe that it will be a merit on their side if their children could learn English Language as the first language instead of the original mother tongue which could be any of the native languages spoken in Nigeria. These parents teach their children solely the lingua franca and deny them their right to learn their indigenous language which could have helped in building some cultural norms and values in them.

The school is another major factor which does not tolerate the smooth flow of native languages in Nigeria. Many a time, students are prohibited from speaking native language (Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba …) mostly in primary and secondary schools and failure to abide by this could attract some punishments from the teachers and sometimes, a fixed fine is paid by any student that goes against the instruction. With this, the students are forced to speak English Language and shun their native languages which have unconsciously been portrayed as a taboo by their teachers.

Similarly, higher institutions of learning like universities, polytechnics and colleges of education are not exempted from this accusation. Research has shown that students in tertiary institutions who are not under any compulsion to ignore their indigenous languages like the primary and secondary schools now find it more appealing to speak the lingua franca to themselves as opposed to their local languages. Ordinarily, students who have been speaking their individual indigenous languages at home will meet in school and forget the fact that they are from the same locality owing to the way they interact, using the official language. They thereby lacked that intimacy that would have been present between them if it were to be their mother tongue. Looking at this behaviour among students in higher institutions with a critical eye, one will observe that their belief in most cases is that speaking English Language fluently is major factor in determining how sound or sophisticated a student is. Therefore, the students who bear this in mind ignore their local indigenous languages for the adopted language (English) which is believed to be more presentable, more refined and more cultivated.

Equally, the disdain towards these Nigerian native languages by some prominent Nigerians has drawn students seeking admission into tertiary institutions away from choosing them as their preferable fields of study. In recent times, admission seekers only choose to study these languages under some undesirable circumstances e.g. having a low score in entrance exams. In view of this decline in the pride of these languages, most admission-seekers barely include them in the options of courses they will like to study in the tertiary institutions and which in turn, results to a scanty number of students that apply for the courses (Nigerian languages) annually.

Apparently, there is a probability that the wide dominance of English Language in Nigeria can lead to the gradual extinction of our local tongues in some decades to come should they continue to suffer this neglect. According to Dr Samson Agbo, a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the over-embracing attitude of the modern Nigerians towards English Language has shrunk the number of people that can speak their local dialects perfectly.

“The way things are going now, there is a tendency that the Nigerians of the 22nd Century will only read about their native languages in books without even knowing how to speak them because if care is not taken, these indigenous languages will suffer obsolescence,” he said.

Adeleke, a student of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is on internship with the Nigerian Tribune.

He also added that most Nigerians will only speak their native tongue if it is mandatory to survive with it in the society (especially if we study and write in this language and all areas of the society communicate with it) but if not, Nigeria may end up like Ireland, Brazil and most countries that replaced their own native tongue with a foreign one due to external influences.