Parents and guidance are urged to promote indigenous languages in all forms to preserve the cultural heritage for socio-economic development.
An indigenous language advocate, Mr. Josiah Egbilika, who made the call in an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt, identified indigenous languages as dialects spoken in one’s nativity.
Mr Egbilika, lamented that the native languages are at the verge of extinction, and cited reason for the ugly trend.
“Number one, the fact that parents today are no longer interested in speaking it is one of the challenges.
Secondly, the notion that indigenous languages have no economic viability as a result of that, parents do not pay attention to indigenous languages.
Another challenge we have is the fact that we do not have it in schools. We should also remove the concept that indigenous language is a language of disunity”, he said.
Mr. Egbilika, however, advised parents to utilise the vacation period to inculcate the knowledge of their indigenous languages into their wards. To aid the learning of their culture and tradition.
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Another supporter of indigenous languages, the Leader Indigenous Language Teacher Association of Nigeria, Dr Ovuchi Agwnu, underscored the importance of using the local languages for instruction in educational facilities. Inorder to promote the culture and tradition of the people.
Dr. Agwnu pointed out that the negligence of the local dialect results in generational loss and a lack of consciousness in society.
“A lot of people have lost their identity formation because they cannot speak their language.
Indigenous languages promote ties in the family. If you speak your language, it makes you proud of where you came from”, he concluded.
Other indigenous language enthusiasts, Mr. Livinus Njoku, Mr. Godswill and Mr Ovonaba urged Nigerians not to be ashamed of their native dialects. Appealing to the government to create a National policy on indigenous languages to boost the local dialects across the federation.
