Revisiting the call to revive Igbo language, culture

THERE is a bill before the Lagos House of Assembly tagged “A Bill for a Law to Provide for the Preservation and Promotion of the Use of Yoruba Language and for Connected Purposes.’’

It seeks  to make Yoruba a core subject in schools and also to enhance the preservation of the language. The bill further recommends the translation of all the laws in the state into Yoruba Language in order to get to its target.

The above move by the House is not in isolation. Previously, the Assembly had made moves to make the teaching and learning of Yoruba compulsory in public and private schools in the state. The measure was aimed at preserving and promoting the indigenous language of the South West from going into extinction.

The bill is not sparing the incorporation of the tertiary institutions in this move to reinvigorate the Yoruba Language as it seeks that all state-owned tertiary institutions should incorporate the use of Yoruba Language in the General Studies (GNS) curriculum.

Furthermore, the bill seeks to make the use of Yoruba an acceptable means of communication between individuals, establishments, corporate entities and government in the state if so desired by the concerned.

To give the bill teeth when passed into law,  “any school that fails to comply with the provisions of Section 2 of the law commits an offence and is liable on first violation to issuance of warning and on subsequent violation be closed down and also pay a fine of N500, 000.

The bill to revitalise Yoruba has reopened debates on the need to revive the Igbo language and culture.

There have been several calls and efforts recently in this direction. Unfortunately, the efforts seem not to be yielding the desired results. On this note, there is an urgent need to give these efforts a legal teeth as a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi did, and as Lagos House of Assembly is striving to achieve, so that these efforts would be enforceable.

It will be recalled that Obi, during the launch of Sukawa Igbo initiative at the Women Development Centre, Awka, Anambra State, introduced  far-reaching measures to revive Igbo language and culture.

Part of the measures was the annual cash award of N250, 000, N200, 000 and N100, 000 to the best three Igbo language students in secondary schools in Nigeria.

Obi also gave cash donations as well as university scholarship to the best two Igbo language students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Messrs Kevin Anozie and Chika Echeta, of Holy Child Secondary School, Isuofia and Bishop Onyemelukwe Secondary School, Onitsha respectively.

Okechukwu Ukegbu,

keshiafrica@gmail.com