Arabic language vital to Nigeria’s investment drive –Munzali

An emeritus professor of the Bayero University Kano (BUK) and a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Professor Munzali Jibril, has urged the federal government to prioritise Arabic language and its learning to boost the nation’s investment drive. He gave the advice at the Executive Arabic Course Matriculation ceremony of Noble Guide […]

An emeritus professor of the Bayero University Kano (BUK) and a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Professor Munzali Jibril, has urged the federal government to prioritise Arabic language and its learning to boost the nation’s investment drive.

He gave the advice at the Executive Arabic Course Matriculation ceremony of Noble Guide Academy, Kubwa Abuja.

He said Arabic being the 5th most-spoken language worldwide after Mandarin (Chinese), Spanish, English and Hindustani is also the official language of 24 countries and three international organisations thus should be considered in Nigeria’s investment drive planning.

“Learning Arabic is difficult due to its complexities, but it is so beautiful that once one learns it, the difference it makes in the speakers is immediately felt. It is similar to Hausa language that has the deep dialects across Nigeria and beyond, and there is also the international ‘dialect’ that everyone understands. The fact that 22 percent or over 1.6 billion of the entire mankind speak Arabic is important for Nigeria to take its advantage,” Munzali said.

Also speaking, Prof. Munzali’s wife Hajiya Fatima Munzali Jibril who is a lecturer at BUK said two of the secrets of learning Arabic are to speak and teach it.

She said Nigerians should explore the advantage of Arabic language and should not by discouraged by fear of making mistakes.

A security expert AbdulRasaq Animasaun urged Muslims to increase their investments in education by building more schools and strengthening the existing ones.

He said learning Arabic is not an end but a means to an end of improving on Islamic knowledge to be able to increase positive and developmental contribution to the country.

President of the Noble Guide Academy AbdulBasit Bolaji Bakare said the nine-month course started in January and would be completed in September, adding that the 17 matriculating participants including Senator Alkali Abdulkadir Jajere were expected to be fluent in Arabic after completing their studies.