Dying Nigerian languages

By: ALVAN EWUZIE

*How the cookey is crumbling

*Many 10yr olds can't speak their mother tongue, especially Igbo

He is tall and handsome.  His flawless diction and baritone voice easily gives him away as a broadcaster. His elocution shows mastery of the spoken word. He is indeed   the delight of many a radio listener who take a cue from him in pronunciation and, perhaps choice of words. At twenty-seven he has a regret, now gradually turning into an embarrassment. 

He can hardly speak ten correct words of his mother tongue. For obvious reasons his identity will be kept out of print.   His is the extreme case of a burgeoning league of young Nigerians whose mother tongue has become a nightmare.

In a term paper by a student of Nigerian Languages, the student found that of one hundred and twenty under ten kids she sampled outside their geographical area, only eight could speak their mother tongue with varied degrees of fluency.

'I found that these kids who are growing up outside their home states have little or no grasp of their mother tongue. Some do but they can hardly speak well' said Nkeiru Iwgilo   who confessed that her research was an eye opener.

' I was amazed at what I saw. Some ten year olds do not even understand their mother tongue let alone speak it. Some of them felt bad about it, some saw nothing wrong with it" she said  

They are increasing the chances of a natural demise for their language, a latent danger looming over some Nigerian languages.

There are two sides of the divide. Some people hold that languages pass away naturally, others say speakers make or mar their language; the younger members of the language community no longer actively speak many languages. They may still be able to understand the language, but they prefer to speak English, Hausa or some other language of wider communication among themselves and to their children.

 The consequence is that these languages will become extinct in the next generation. In fact there are some Nigerian languages that are nearly extinct (e.g. Holma, a Chadic language spoken in Adamawa State) or have already ceased to exist (e.g. Auyokawa and Tecn, two Chadic languages formerly spoken in Jigawa State). Those languages may be the immediate casualties of the unstoppable invasion, as it were, of the Hausa Language as the dominant Lingua franca in the North. The dominant Language is gradually consuming some languages in the Northern parts.

 In 2006 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation aided a study by Arts and Humanities Research Council [AHRS] that sought to unearth dying Languages in Nigeria and the Cameroons.  Dr David Zeitlyn from the Anthropology Department, University of Kent, directed the project and it brought the Canadian linguist Bruce Connell to Kent. Dr Connell is an acknowledged expert in endangered languages, especially in Africa, and an authority on the languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland project.

The project showed that fire was high on the mountain. It became evident that  some languages are being chipped away gradually. But the one that faced danger of death on account of declining speech level among the major languages in Nigeria is the Igbo language. Its decline stems from continued inability of children from the zone especially those living outside to speak their mother tongue. One clear sign of the language as an endangered specie  manifests in the entertainment industry where a popular cable television company has dedicated channels for providing content in local languages. While they have channels for Hausa and Yoruba there is non for Igbo.

'it is not a deliberate action' said s spokes person for the firm' the problem is that we do not have enough content of materials produced in Igbo language to fill such a dedicated channel on air for 24 hours. If we find content we shall readily get a dedicated channel' Daily Sun learnt that the firm has already put an additional channel meant to service the Igbo speaking viewers yet the movies aired there are done in English. It is a clear sigh that the language cannot provide content. 

Some reasons for the decline

The dirt of this growing menace has been swept to the doorstep of parents who have shied away from speaking to their children in their mother tongue. The rot is literally home grown. Expectations are that children begin to hear their language from their homes. But the glaring absence of such developments has compounded a scary problem.

'I blame mothers for this problem. They are closer to the children especially when they are younger. They ought to speak the language to them' said Ike Ezeugwu a businessman who also confesses that his children cannot speak their mother tongue. Several respondents lent credence to his submission. They blame mothers for the impending rot. But a mother who would rather her name be removed from print said her children may be embarrassed in school if they resume there and are ignorant of the prevalent language of communication which is English.

'This thing is not a blame game. It is something both parents must consciously do. We do not need to push the blame to anybody. We must work at it as parents and try to teach our children their mother tongue' said Reverend Chudi Obi who teaches Igbo Language at the Seminary.

Children living outside their zones are hampered by the cosmopolitan nature of their abode given that the language of communication in their environment cannot be restricted to their mother tongue. Mrs Omolara Ige a school teacher says it would be wrong for her to communicate with her pupils in vernacular since they do not all came from her language area insisting that those pointing accusing fingers at Teachers should direct their anger elsewhere.

Children from cross bread marriages have generally lagged behind in what ought to be a natural advantage of communicating in two languages. One parent told this reporter that his family is guilty stating that they prefer communicating with their children in English.

'It has served us well so far. We use English in our family and to be honest with you I have not considered that we should consciously teach our various languages. I assume that they will learn it naturally as they grow older' he said admitting that  it is an error of judgment he would begin to amend.  He agrees that multiple language ability ought to be the natural advantage of children whose parents have different languages.

Southwest zone least affected

Mrs ige agrees that the Yoruba language may be the least affected but says such assertion can only be fully made when Yoruba kids living outside their homestead are examined. She however admits that the feelers she gets from relatives in London and America show that their kids still have very strong cultural affinity strongly reflected in the propensity to speak fluently in their language. She confesses that the language of communication in her family is her local language, which is why her children are not deficient in their mother tongue.

She says in spite of the general admission that the Yoruba language is not under any threat, there are silent but worrisome trends gradually evolving.

'There are different dialects of the Yoruba language, but our children are speaking what I call general Yoruba and thus losing their dialect. We as parents will do well to teach them their dialect so that the language will be retained in its entirety ' she said. Her submission is that Yoruba people should not rest on their oars on the assumption that the language is under no threat. But as things stand Yoruba may well be the least affected by the threat of imminent extinction. 

Igbo renaissance 

While that Igbo language appear to be the most threatened of the major ethnic languages some optimists hold that the threat is more imagined that real. Reverend Chudi Obi holds this view. He says his children who born in Lagos were deficient in speaking the Igbo language,

'But when I took them to the village and we stayed for about three weeks and they interacted with people who spoke the language to them regularly they picked the language so fast and I was happy  knowing that all I needed to do was to take them home periodically for them to be very fluent in the language. So I am not scared that the language will die or is dying' he told students in his class in the seminary. 

His optimism is buoyed by the practical steps now taken by some governments in the south east zone to save the language. In Imo state for instance, traditional rulers must not address their subjects or any public gathering in any other language other than Igbo. Some of the state Houses of Assembly have dedicated some days for total deliberation in Igbo. In Anambra state governor Peter Obi has taken  deliberate steps to halt decline of the Igbo language. He was recently reported to have rolled out a comprehensive measure to save the language when he launched what was called 'Suwakwa Igbo' [keep speaking Igbo language] in the state.

Speaking at the launch of Suwakwa Igbo at the Women Development Centre, Awka, he called on the Igbos to love themselves, their culture and language for their sustenance as a people.

During the ceremony, Obi announced, among others, annual award of N200,000, N250,000, and N100,000 to the three  best Igbo students in Secondary Schools in Nigeria.  He also gave cash donations and scholarships (University) to the two best Igbo students in WAEC - Mr. Kevin Anozie of Holy Child Secondary School, Isuofia and Mr. Chika Echeta of Bishop Onyemelukwe Secondary School Onitsha.

The Governor also, during the ceremony,  signed into law, a Bill to Enforce the Speaking and Writing of Igbo and Wide spread Usage of Igbo Language among Ndigbo in Anambra and Diaspora. He explained that the law would be enforced and announced the stoppage of giving corporal punishment to students who speak Igbo in schools in the State. 

 He also announced that Igbo Language would henceforth be compulsory in all the categories of educational institution in the State just as English and Mathematics are.  He revealed he will send a bill that will make it mandatory for Igbo people to be employed in the State, as a matter of law, pass Igbo Language.

Governor Obi also announced the building of Chief  Ogbalu Igbo Language School at the cost of the N50.5 Million Naira, for specialized and holiday programmes in Igbo. He named professor Pita Ejiofo to chair a five-man committee to work out modalities that will guide the measures to revive the Igbo language.

The leader of Suwakwa Igbo, Prof. Pita Ejiofor thanked the Governor for his interest in Igbo cause.  Using statistics, he proved that Igbo Language is retrogressing and insisted that only Igbos will stop the retrogression.

The President of Ohaneze Worldwide, Amb.  Ralph. Uwachue, represented by Dr. Atamuo thanked the Governor for his commitment to Igbo cause  and asked him to appeal to his brother Governors as the Chairman of South East Governors' Forum to follow his footstep.

The occasion was chaired by Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe.  Over 70 traditional rulers attended among others from different walks of life.

The former Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Pita Ejiofor, has almost devoted his entire life to the promotion and survival of Igbo language. Ejiofor said he began the crusade when it became a shame that most children of Igbo extraction could neither speak, nor write their language. This is coupled with warnings from the United Nations and a study by the Oxford University which revealed that if no extra effort is made, Igbo language will go into extinction.

Thereafter, Ejiofor championed the cause for the revival and sustenance of Igbo language among Igbo people in Nigeria. This led to the formation of 'Otu Subakwa Igbo' (a group that champions speaking of Igbo language)  on February 14, 2006.  As his campaign spread throughout Igbo land, Subakwa Igbo soon changed to Suwakwa Igbo, which Ejiofor explained is the central Igbo spoken across the entire Igbo land and he has devoted his time and resources to the course ever since. Ejiofor has a fore-runner though, in late Chief Chidozie Ogbalu who was one of the foremost promoters of Igbo language and culture through writing of several text books in Igbo language. Also before now, the State House of Assembly passed a resolution entrenching the conduct of the House business in Igbo language on Wednesdays.

Among other measures Obi  when two or more Igbo people are discussing their language of communication should be Igbo and not even an admixture of Igbo and English. Parents should use Igbo to communicate to their children at home and should at all times avoid such sayings as "say hello to uncle", or "Junior does not understand Igbo", as that is an insult to Igbo language.

The various towns and villages should write and present their address to government officials in Igbo. They should also write programme of events, orations, citations all in Igbo in ceremonies. He asked state owned radio and television stations to emulate their counterparts in the North and in the West in promoting the use of local languages

Obi has announced immediate offer of employment for all holders of Bachelor's degrees, Higher National Diploma and National Diplomas of Igbo language 

Expectedly Prof. Ejiofor could not hold his joy that his dream of attracting enough attention and assistance in his struggle to keep Igbo language alive has come true. He thanked Obi for his interest in Igbo cause.  Using statistics, he sought to prove that Igbo Language is retrogressing and that only Igbo people will stop the retrogression.

 Time awaits the  implementation of the foregoing to halt extinction of the language.

Other languages have been affected

In determining whether Esan as a language is endangered or not, professor Matthew Ogbeide Omo-Ojugo applied  some of Unesco's (2003) "Major Evaluative Factors of Language Vitality" .  The nine major factors identified are: 

1) Intergenerational Language Transmission; 

2) Absolute Number of Speakers; 

3) Proportion of Speakers within the Total Population; 

4) Trends in Existing Language Domains; 

5) Response to New Domains and Media; and 

6) Materials for Language Education and Literacy. 

7) Governmental and Institutional Language Attitudes and Policies Including Official Status and Use. 

8) Community Members' Attitudes Towards Their Own Language. 

9) Amount and Quality of Documentation. 

 According to Omo-Ojugo   Nigeria alone has 23 languages listed which are already extinct.  Many of these extinct languages are in Northern States of Nigeria primarily due to language shift, which usually reflects the rise of a dominant culture.  

Thus, Hausa, Arabic, Mandika, Bambara, Fulfulde and Kanuri, have all been associated with aggressive expansionism and the forcible conversion of enslaved peoples.

The above phenomenon is true of Akoko-Edo region of Edo Sate where a lingua-franca status is accorded to the Yoruba language, although the various mother-tongues have not been totally rendered out of use.  

The younger generation of Akoko-Edo indigenes, notes Omo-Ojugo (1989) have become conscious of a cultural lag as a result of what the tremendous influence of the Yoruba language and culture have had on the lives of their people.  As a result of this the "Akoko-Edo Club" made up of enlightened youths, has embarked on a mass cultural-identity campaign for Akoko-Edo indigenes to use their mother-tongues for personal and place names.  

Continuing, Omo-Ojugo (1989) noted that:    

The Language Committee of the Okpamheri Descendants' Union, 

has been commissioned to carry out research into the language 

and produce books and literature texts in Okpamheri language.  

The professor stated that esan language in Edo state is also endangered going by the United Nation's yard stick of measuring threatened languages. His conclusion is apt;

 If you don't breathe, 

 There is no air. 

 If you don't walk,  

 There is no earth. 

If you don't speak, 

 There is no world.