February 21 is the day set aside by UN, Unesco as world mother language day. The day was first recognised in 1999 and the world started observing it in 2008. It took it roots from Bengali demonstrations & the killing of demonstarators in 1952.
This was in recognition of the importance of mother tongues in communication and uniting different communities through interaction and understanding.
In a multilingual state like Nigeria, value of mother languages are very important considering the level of development we are witnessing now. English, Arabic, French are borrowed languages not indegenous.
As provided in the national education policy, schools are allowed to teach children using their mother languages. Unfortunately, most people are looking down on their mother languages. They only want their children to learn English, unfortunately, Nigerians still can speak English correctly as some call A as H, some p as F.
Is time Nigerians cherish their mother tongues and government help local languages to foster.
In my own contribution, i designed some symbols for Hausa language which was published in 3 journals. Hausa and other Afro Chadiac languages lack symbols for writing of their own. Hausa is the largest language in Africa with over 100 million speakers It is spoken across ECOWAS members states, Sudan and Central Africa. I personally made a submission to NICO and UNESCO to see how they can improve my work.
The colonials came and left but they left 3 things to keep colonising us. Their language is one of them. Let us break the chains.
Abdulbaqi Jari
08035424321
Abuja, Nigeria