An awakening cultural chauvinism among Nigerians has suddenly pitched the mother tongue – the locally spoken languages – against the English Language which has for years been the common means of communication in Nigeria and other anglophone African countries since the colonia era. Because of the nation’s long history of colonialism, the quality of a man’s education and literary finesse is being defined by his mastery of the English Language, oral or written. No matter how fluent a Nigerian is in the native language, he is not considered to belong to the educated class until he speaks and writes the Queen’s English.
Mother tongue refers to the dominant language of every individual that forms his or her cultural identity, cognitive development, and early literacy, providing a strong foundation for learning other languages. English, on the other hand, can be regarded as the world’s lingua franca. It is the dominant language used for international trade, communication, and access to global resources.
The upcoming generations are asking questions why English should be a basis to qualify as literate, wanting indeed to change the narrative by first elevating their mother tongue to its rightful position in the assembly of world languages and then fronting it as the lingua franca for the nation.
The lingua franca issue is an old one that once dominated social discussion, but failed to generate a consensus because of the varied culture and languages in a country that boasts of 200 ethnic nationalities. Much obvious was the fact that even among the three known widely spoken languages of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba none could be adopted due to the rivalry between the speakers. The struggle for relevance extends to dialects within the major languages, causing the fashioning of what is acceptable as “central Igbo”, for instance.
It was, therefore, suggested that every Nigerian child must offer and pass, in addition to his mother tongue, a Nigerian language which could be Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo at the junior secondary school level, while at the senior secondary school level, the child must offer at least one of those languages to qualify for the award of SSC (Senior Secondary Certificate). Later on, the National Council on Education (NCE) approved the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction from primary one to six.
These efforts only end up in preserving the languages so that they do not go extinct. They are not measures that can conveniently upstage the English as a world acclaimed language.
Only recently, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, made an appeal at the 2025 Extraordinary National Council on Education Meeting in Abuja that the policy of using mother tongue for teaching should be scrapped. The minister of state highlighted several challenges hindering the implementation of the policy, which included “inconsistencies in policy execution,” especially in urban areas and some parts of the country, as English is used from the start. According to her, it contradicts the policy.
“With over 500 languages in Nigeria, implementation becomes complex, making it difficult to select a dominant language in multilingual communities.
“Limited availability of instructional materials and textbooks, among other factors, hinders implementation,” she said.
This call tends to vindicate those who think English language should not be removed as the common medium of communication in the affairs of the nation. The English language is widely spoken in the world. It is imperative that any country that seeks not to be isolated from the world should endeavour to learn, speak and write fluent English. China, Japan, Germany and many other countries who have hitherto remained conservative in matters of language are beginning to open up to the English language. They now pay heavily teachers who are willing to teach English in their schools.
Advocates of the local language having pre-eminence over English forgot the limited vocabulary that is the character of these indigenous tongues. This is because colonisation brought about the importation of a plethora of products and ideas that are alien to the local population. They, therefore, do not have words for these imported ideas in many aspects of life. In the world of education and learning, most books have been written in English, meaning that seekers of knowledge need to have not just a smattering of the language but a deep proficiency in it to understand the contents of the books.The various fields of study in our universities – medicine, engineering, law and the major professions – have their bodies of knowledge stored in the English Language.
We can imagine the level confusion and instability that would be introduced in the system should we insist on converting every book in these fields into our local languages. How do we get about building a vocabulary rich enough to capture all the concepts? How would a biology teacher explain the term “osmosis” to his students in Igbo language in just one word? What is the equivalent of “quadratic equation” in Yoruba?
Granted that experts in Igbo have made significant efforts in coining words to represent some of those in the English lexicon which are commonly used; such as the word “mahadum” for “university”, “teknuzu” for technology, among others. These efforts are a far cry from what is required to cover the gamut of ideas, theories and conceptions that have been built over the years in the various fields of study.
We must also be eager to know the language of the white man because of the advantage this knowledge offers when we want to tap into their secrets. They do not have that advantage because they hardly understand our own local languages.
Language is not what we must lose sleep over, though, especially in this era of globalisation where cross-cultural interactions have catalysed an unprecedented dynamism and changes, such that non-English words are finding their way into the English lexicon.
Nigeria is not alone in this language dilemma. Sometime in India, violent opposition erupted against a proposal to make Hindu the lingua franca. Parliamentarians staged a walkout against the language they could not understand. Similar experiences abound in Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines. It follows then that English will remain the suitable lingua franca for Nigeria for now, despite the perceived benefits of the mother tongue which include fostering faster intellectual development and critical thinking skills and cultural connection.
English, a global language, enables participation in international trade, scientific publishing, and diplomacy all of which invariably lead to commercial benefits, access to global opportunities and a nation’s growth. The challenge, however, lies in differences in grammar, sound systems, and word order between the mother tongue and English which can create inadequate pronunciation, spelling, and sentence structure.
Parents are castigated for allowing the English language to overshadow the indigenous tongue in their children’s subconscious, practically making a foreign language their first language. Thus, a child whose name is Ngozi who lives in Owerri, the Igbo heartland, would tell you she has no knowledge of the Igbo language. Indeed, some parents see it as a status symbol that their children speak all English and no Igbo. However, to interact meaningfully outside her habitat and pass her examinations, Ngozi needs to speak fluent English and write the language with minimal errors. Such is the dilemma of the mother tongue.
Let’s conclude with this story. My son returned from the urban area where he was holidaying and was all over the place with a newly acquired habit to speak English everywhere. Three days later, he resumed at a semi-urban primary school located at a sub-urban setting near Owerri where he had been before the short visit to his cousins at Port Harcourt. As the days progressed, I discovered that he had dropped his fascination for speaking English. I asked why. The little boy told me frankly that when he spoke English to any of his friends, that friend would turn away from him and would desist from further interaction with him.
The fierce competition between the mother tongue and English Language is real. What must be advocated is a balance of the two as there is a great deal of advantage for the individual who is multilingual. While it feels good to preserve our indigenous languages, it is also gainful to maintain proficiency in the white man’s tongue.
Dr. Odu can be reached through [email protected] or SMS 07016722929
