Niger State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, has urged parents to teach their children and wards native languages and culture as a way of ensuring that no Nigerian language goes into extinction.
Against the backdrop of available statistic which shows that most homes had adopted English as the lingua franca while native dialect becomes a second option, Vatsa cautioned that the trend if not checked would do more harm than good to tribes in Niger State and the country.
Vatsa argued that he was not against use of English in communication when it becomes necessary, however said that there was need for citizens to learn indigenous languages and as well bequeath same on future leaders as unique culture of Niger State.
“When native languages are spoken to the children, it builds in them from the formative ages the core values peculiar to their immediate society and also make them have the desires to adopt the best practices for the development of their immediate and larger societies.
“As commissioner in charge of Tradition and Cultures of my state, I am worried and indeed the state government is worried that none of the younger ones today can read and write in any of the native languages as it used to be in the years past,” he said.
Realizing the inherent danger of having any of the languages going into extinction, the commissioner disclosed plans by the Governor Sani Bello-led administration to come up with deliberate policies and programmes to ensure promotion of first languages in schools.
He said, “The ministry is trying out ways to collaborate with Niger State College of Education, Minna and the IBB University, Lapai to develop Courses in the major languages of the state as first languages (L1) to boost the cultural heritage of the diverse ethnic nationalities in Niger State.
“The programme we intend to come up with is aimed at ensuring that our children can read and write in major languages; Nupe, Hausa, Gbagyi, Kambari and other native languages as a way of building in them a better understanding of the various cultural heritages in the state.”
Vatsa also recalled that the earliest curriculum of Nigeria’s education had emphasized the importance of first languages which is the native dialects as very germane to educational development and therefore wondered why the concept has been tactically silenced.
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