NICO commences one month language training

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the language training in Abuja, NICO’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma said that the programme was initiated by the institute in response to the disheartening situation concerning the state of languages. He explained that the training was designed to create awareness on the need to speak indigenous languages and […]

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the language training in Abuja, NICO’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma said that the programme was initiated by the institute in response to the disheartening situation concerning the state of languages.

He explained that the training was designed to create awareness on the need to speak indigenous languages and create a sense of pride in them thereby fostering national pride and identity; encourage the need to preserve indigenous languages; and promote Nigeria’s cultural diplomacy objectives.

“It is reported that several languages are facing extinction at an alarming rate globally. There is also the fear that by the next century, more than half of the world`s estimated 6,900 languages will go into extinction; and the Nigerian situation is not different. Already, experts are of the opinion that with the rising rate at which Nigerian Languages are steadily endangered, most indigenous languages  will be extinct in the next three decades, while about 90 percent  of languages are estimated to be replaced by dominant languages by the turn of the century,” he said.

Ayakoroma said that there is no gainsaying the fact that languages plays a pivotal role in the promotion, preservation and propagation of culture, adding that it is the vehicle for the transmission of intangible cultural heritage.

“It is therefore imperative to note that an inextricable connection exists between language and culture. When language dies, it leads to the loss of cherished cultural, historical and ecological knowledge of a people, which are unique to them. This brings to fore, the reality that each language is an embodiment of the unique expression of the human experience of the world.”

Earlier in his address,  Dr. P.C Dike, former Director General of National Gallery of Art who chaired the occasion  informed that Nigeria is at the risk of losing her over 300 languages due to the over bearing  western influence since the advent of globalization.

He said, “ It is common knowledge that most of our younger generations at home and in the Diaspora cannot express themselves in their mother tongue. It is frightening when one imagine the implication of this development on the future of our country- a country in which our future leaders ignore their mother tongue and sacrifice their noble traditions.   Any society or group of people that loses its language, maybe considered as a lost generation.”

Also  speaking,   Alhaji Usman Ngakupi, Sapeyi of Garki, Abuja said that  traditional rulers as custodians of our tradition cannot claim ignorance over teh loss of languages that are fast fading  away and decried the attitude of parents who prefer to communicate with their children in English to the detriment of indigenous languages.