In this report, ABU NMODU, Minna; FELIX IGBEKOYI, Asaba; NNAMDI MBAWIKE, Enugu and KALU EZIYI, Umuahia, examine how absentee parenthood, inter-tribal marriages and urbanisation are accelerating the extinction of indigenous languages across the country.
It has become a common phenomenon that many parents now raise children who are deficient in their mother tongues. Though the English language has helped to provide a common language, thereby uniting the various tribes, tongues and ethnic groups in Nigeria, the various dialects are endangered and on the verge of extinction.
The younger generation, popularly known as Gen Z, is becoming disconnected from their roots as they lose proficiency in their mother tongues.
In Niger State, parents attributed the inability of some of their children to speak their languages to a lack of sufficient time with the children and other factors, such as inter-tribal marriages and urbanisation.
Also, in Niger State, it was found that most homes speak English and Hausa, though other tribes, such as Nupe, Gwari, Kambari, Kamukus, Koro, and many others, are indigenous.
A resident of Minna, Alhaji Mahmud Abdullahi, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that his children could speak a little Nupe because of their mother, who is always at home with them while he is away most of the time.
“Even when I am at home, we speak English. So it is very difficult to make them fluent in the local language because interference will always be there, but their mother is helping them speak a little.”
“Generally, we speak Hausa and English, but our language, Gwari, is hardly spoken because of environmental factors. You see, especially in Minna, it is English and Hausa in most homes; that’s how it is socially set up,” he said.
On his part, Dauda Gambo said, “My children cannot speak my language because my wife is from Edo State. As a result, we speak English because our tribes and tongues differ. That is my dilemma.”
He said most of the languages were going into extinction due to increased social contact, such as inter-tribal marriages and the search for greener pastures, as well as the influence of social media.
In Delta State, many youths in the Central Senatorial District have lost the ability to communicate in the native Urhobo language across the 24 kingdoms and across different strata of the locality.
The language, the people of the state say, is going into extinction, given the progressive failure of many Urhobo youths to speak or write it.
Meanwhile, reviving the Urhobo language is an ongoing cultural movement aimed at preserving the endangered language spoken by over 2 million native speakers.
A parent, Victor Iyagobor, said promoting Urhobo as the primary language in the home is the most effective way to prevent it from fading away. “As Urhobo parents, which language do you use to communicate with your children and wards at home? he asked.
He maintained that young people have lost the ability to communicate in the language, lamenting that, although his children cannot speak it, he has determined to revive fluent communication among his family members.
It may be recalled that at one point the late Senator Pius Ewherido sought to save the Urhobo language by instituting a competition among youths in the Delta Central Senatorial District to revive it.
He noted that the competition would be held across the eight local government areas of the senatorial district, with competitors quizzed on topics including “traditional idioms of the Urhobo people to test their understanding of the language, Urhobo cultural attributes, innuendos, storytelling, translations from English to Urhobo, essay writing, debates, among other considerations.”
“The main prize in the competition, which is open to any Urhobo between 10 and 25 years, is a brand-new car. In addition to the new car to be won by the overall winner, winners at the local government areas will also go home with prizes.”
A student of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Onoji Ogheneruona, said that as at today, he is not fluent in the language, just like several others, and advised that needful steps have to be taken towards the revival of the language and to create the need for Urhobo language teachers to walk back in time and return to tackle the current reality.
The former first deputy president-general of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Chief Tuesday Onoge, stressed that the Urhobo nation should not allow its language to die, adding that language is a people’s identity and that, when it is lost, the people are lost.
“This Urhobo language competition is a remarkable initiative. Some of the world’s top scientists learned science in their native languages. For instance, the Japanese and Chinese studied science in their own languages, whereas in our part of the world, we were punished for speaking our mother tongue when the colonisers arrived.”
He emphasised that teaching children in their native language improves comprehension, adding that, “If you teach a child in a foreign language, you first have to teach them the language before you teach the subject. That becomes an obstacle to their learning.”
The chairperson of the Urhobo Studies Association (USA), Prof Roseline Aziza, emphasised the importance of language to identity, saying: “Our languages are dying, and once a language dies, so does the identity of the people. Language sustains culture, teaching children who they are, how they behave and what they value.”
Aziza lamented that Urhobo, like other minority languages, is at risk of extinction,
“Active revitalisation efforts include community-sponsored language competitions for young people, digital apps for daily learning, and educational content across physical and virtual spaces.”
“Technology plays a major role in modern language revitalisation. You and your family can use modern tools to practise and learn from the comfort of your home,” she stated.
The worst culprits in the dilemma in Abia State are the highly placed members of society, who, as parents of the generation, view a preference for English over the Igbo language and culture as a status symbol.
LEADERSHIP Weekend checks also indicated that “the private schools, where most of the generation’s attention is focused, in their bid to outclass each other, are not helping matters as they are all international”.
In their responses, most parents could not guarantee their wards’ fluency in Igbo or their understanding of cultural norms, such as greeting elders or not using the left hand to give an elder something.
According to some of the children themselves, even though they would like to speak the language and practise the culture, many factors beyond their control are preventing them.
Some of the factors they cite include a regimented lifestyle, residential and school environments, a lack of encouragement from their parents, school, or society, and their beli from doing soef that society has become a global village.
They further argued that they see themselves as citizens of a global, borderless society and should therefore adopt language and ways of life that suit that society rather than those that are local.
However, despite these drawbacks, the state government, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, religious organisations, and other stakeholders have been encouraging the “rekindling of interest in the language and culture”.
The threat to indigenous languages is also real in Enugu State, as many young people and children have taken to English as their language of choice.
Speaking with one of our correspondents, Master Obinna Anyanwu of Flourish International Secondary, Enugu, blamed her parents for her inability to speak Igbo fluently, saying they rarely speak it at home.
A university student, Miss Chinyere Agbonma, also blamed her parents, saying they had banned her from speaking Igbo at home.
A parent, Mrs Osuji Ifeoma, dismissed the allegation but blamed schools for failing to prioritise the Igbo language.
To combat the risk of extinction, the Enugu State government and local groups are pushing to make the use of the Igbo language mandatory among young people.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is implementing regular quiz competitions across nursery, primary, and secondary schools.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations are advocating strict native-language instruction in schools.
Stakeholders, including traditional leaders and the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, are strongly urging parents to deliberately speak Igbo at home, as they view the family unit as the primary battleground against language extinction.
