Feature: Promoting Igbo language in our time

May 26, 2020

By Ijendu Iheaka, 

(From NAN archives)
 
On a recent visit to the home of a member of his flock in Ogbaru, Anambra state, the Bishop of the Ogbaru Diocesan of the Anglican Communion, Rt Rev. Samuel Ezeofor got more than he bargained for.

 While engrossed in a discussion with his hosts in Igbo language, a child of the home walked in and wondered aloud why the discussants chose to speak in “grandma’s language”.

 Nowadays, such a spectacle is not new as many youngsters can hardly speak in their mother tongue.

 For the N’digbo in particular, the trend has become so worrisome, as UNESCO predicted that the Igbo language could go into extinction in the next 50 years, if urgent steps are not taken to preserve the language.

 The Igbo ethnic group spans five states in eastern Nigeria, namely Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, while the language is spoken by some groups in Rivers, Cross River, Delta and Benue states.

 In view of the threat of extinction of their language, prominent Igbo sons and daughters, governments and socio-cultural organisations have devised means to promote the speaking of the language, so as to preserve it for posterity.

 For instance, the Anambra state government encourages the use of Igbo language in the conduct of government business every Wednesday, while the State House of Assembly has also adopted the language for its proceedings on the specific day of the week.

 The International Conference on the Extinction of the Igbo Language is another forum that has braced to the challenge of preserving the Igbo language. 

Recently, it held its second annual meeting in Owerri, where stakeholders brainstormed on ways to improve the speaking of Igbo language in homes, schools and elsewhere.

 The Minister for Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, in his address to the conference, highlighted the need for parents to always speak Igbo language to their children as a means of its preservation.

 Many stakeholders at the summit expressed viewpoints that that the role of parents in the promotion of the language was imperative.

 “I am of the view that neither the school system nor the Diaspora factor is responsible for this problem; if they were, other major Nigerian languages would be suffering the same fate.

 “Igbo language may be getting extinct because the Igbo families have stopped speaking to their children in their mother tongue,” Wogu said.

 While Wogu may be correct in a sense, many analysts believe that the problem is not peculiar to the N’digbos, as other ethnic groups in the country also complain of decline in the speaking of their languages.

 “It’s a common problem everywhere you go. Our children in particular do not know how to speak our native languages and the way things are going now, these languages could go into extinction in matter of few years,” said Mr Dominic Nwagwu, an Abuja-based civil servant.

 Dr Iwu Ikwubuzo, an associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics (African and Asian Languages), University of Lagos, shared these sentiments to an extent but insists that the Igbo language “is not dying.”

 “Igbo language is not dying unless you are saying Igbo people will all die off once.

 “The Igbos in the past transmitted their culture through language to their young ones by means of folk tales, songs and proverbs and suchlike methods that helped preserve the language till today,” he said.

 Ikwubuzo, however, bemoaned the situation where his Yoruba friends in faraway U.S.A spoke their language to their children, whereas their Igbo counterparts also there, conversed always in not just English language but English with American colours.

 According to him, parents have a leading role to play in the challenge to preserve the Igbo language; else it will go into oblivion.

 “It will be wrong to believe that any magic could be done by any Igbo language teacher if the parents themselves fail to speak the language to their children”, he said.

 Mr Emmanuel Obe, a public affairs analyst, described the example of Anambra government and the state legislature as quite laudable but expressed puzzled on how the Assembly could actualise its decision when it held its plenary sessions only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 To further promote the Igbo language, the Anambra government has built the Igbo Language Study Centre, named after Dr Chiedozie Ogbalu, the Abagana-born Igbo language expert, who died in 1990.

 Observers described the establishment of the centre as a laudable effort that would substantially regenerate the Igbo language as well as the cherished values of the N’digbo.

 They recalled that Ogbalu’s contribution to the Igbo language began in 1949 when he founded the Society for Promotion of Igbo Language and Culture (SPILC).

 Since its founding, the SPILC has consistently aimed at the development and popularisation of Igbo language, literature and culture worldwide.

 Elsewhere in Lagos state recently, the Igbo Academy Project was launched at the Igbo Anglican Mission at Iba, Lagos as part of efforts to promote the Igbo language.

 The facilitator, Mr Israel Anene, who is a member of the local church and Chairman of the project, said that the project had a two-pronged approach to its objective, one of which was to run the church service in Igbo.

 He said it was imperative for the Church to reverse its position against the use of local language for worship in areas where such a language is not predominant, as a way of preserving local languages.

 The Mission’s Secretary, Dr Frank Okafor explained that the project aimed to encourage people to read, write and speak Igbo, as well as imbibe cherished Igbo values and ethics.

 “It will also ensure that Nigerians enjoy worshipping God in their languages, since there are things said in a particular language, which when translated, lose their true meaning”, Okafor said.

 Bishop Ezeofor shared the sentiments of the Academy facilitators as they related to the general promotion Igbo language.

 “With the Igbo Academy, we want to regain all the lost grounds because it is known that many Igbo people do not speak Igbo again in their families.

 “We are encouraging families to begin to speak Igbo to their children in their homes. We want to begin to teach the children the language from very tender ages. Even for the child in the womb, if you start to speak Igbo language to them, they will grow with it,” he said.

 On his part, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of G.U.O Motors, Sir Godwin Okeke, tasked all N’digbo to “always think home”.

 “When you start thinking of home, you will start thinking about the language because it is the chief means of communication through which you have to reach your people”, he said.

 He advised that if the Igbo people thought of home in their lands of sojourn, they would not indulge in acts of negligence, which eroded the knowledge and use of Igbo among their younger ones.

 Apparently pleased with the goals of the Igbo Academy Project, Okeke donated N500,000 million to the academy, to enable it commence its various activities at promoting Igbo values.

  “The Igbo Academy project is a worthwhile venture and that is the reason it has my support. Igbo people need to make concerted efforts now to save Igbo language from dying”, he said.

 While the continuing inability of the younger generation to speak in their mother tongue remains a major challenge to the nation’s ethnic groups, experts put most of the blame on families, which fail to communicate among themselves in their languages.

 As is very common in most homes nowadays, communication is mostly in English language or its poor variant of “Warri pidgin” at worst. Even where the native tongues are spoken at all, they are often mixed with English and for Igbo in particular, what is described as “Engli-igbo”.

 Worst still, most adults do no know the names of many household items, foods and numerous other things that they are in contact with everyday.

 “Most adults don’t know the names of things like matches, pillow, chair, knives and a lot more in their native tongue and with this type of situation, what can they impart to their younger ones,” Ibekwe Obinna, an Igbo octogenarian wondered.

  “Many Nidigbos have the tendency to show off whatever little English grammar that they know, thinking that speaking a foreign language like English is a status symbol or sign of great accomplishment,” Okafor bemoaned.

 Miss Adanna, a teenage daughter of an Igboman resident in Lagos aptly illustrates the situation of children in most homes in the country.

 Born in Lagos 13 years ago, Adanna has only visited her father’s native home – Owerri twice and can hardly utter a word in Igbo, even when she spoke Yoruba fluently and could even write in the language.

 All Adinna knows in Igbo, however, are curse-words as “Isi adighi gi mma”, “I bu onye iberiibe”, “Anu Ohia”, for which some of her mates taunts her.

 “This is indeed a dilemma for the Igbo race and all hands must be on deck to find a lasting solution and thus save Igbo language from extinction,” Obinna stressed.

 Miss Funke Adeyemi is Adinna’s Yoruba friend, who once took interest in the Igbo language but fell back because of her perception of Igbo as a “very difficult” language to learn.

 “I would have loved to learn the language but I found that it is harder than other Nigerian languages I know.

“Besides, few of my Igbo friends who speak the language do not know how to write it and that adds to the problem because some word sounds need to be written and pronounced to help the learner get them properly”, she said.

 Funke is not alone in this perception of the Igbo language but Obinna disabuses their minds about the language, stressing that they only needed to show some interest to get along in course of time.

 “It’s like a child learning to walk; the skill does not blossom overnight. It’s a matter of continuing efforts and sustenance of interest,” says Obinna.

 Language experts, however, say that there is no language that cannot be learnt as long as the learner first shows some interest and is not afraid of making mistakes in the process.

 They say that the Igbo language has 36 alphabets, having borrowed extensively from basic Latin and the Latin extended alphabets with its many consonant sounds.

 For such apparent complexity, Miss Ebele Akpata, an Igbo lady suggests that any purposeful attempt to teach the Igbo language formally should be with a specially designed teaching method that will make its study easier.

 Dr Fred Odutola, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), explained that bible-based materials were not much in the Igbo language as most Ndigbo did not write or read in their native tongue.

 He called on Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo, the socio-cultural association of the Igbo, to do whatever it could to ensure that the language was not just spoken but read and written to ensure its sustenance.

 Observers believe that the N’digbo are not alone in this predicament of preserving their language as virtually all other languages spoken in various parts of the country face similar threats.

 They advise that families, schools, governments and socio-cultural organisation should intensify efforts to ensure that all existing languages are preserved for posterity.

With editing by Celsius Ohain

First published in 2011 by News Agency of Nigeria.