Ugo Nosiri, Owerri
The National President, Igbo Women Assembly, IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, has called on all well meaning Igbos across the globe to join hands to save the language from extinction.
Lolo Chimezie made the call in Owerri during an event organised by IWA to mark this year’s International Mother Tongue Day celebration.
Lolo Chimezie said that the theme of the event “PREVENTING ENDANGERED LANGUAGES FROM DEATH; A CASE OF IGBO LANGUAGE, was in line with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO’s prediction in 2012 that the Igbo Language was among the languages that would go into extinction by 2025.
The IWA president who expressed fear that Igbo language was on the eight of eleven stages to go into extinction if nothing was done to promote the language and save it, decried that indigenous language in the Eastern states is gradually becoming English, unlike other tribes.
Lolo Chimezie, maintained that a child learns a language from age zero to three years, and called on Igbo women all over the world to as a point of duty ensure that their children all over the world speak and write the language fluently and also visit home regularly.
Lolo Chimezie reiterated her unwavering doggedness in the campaign to save Igbo language, and urged Igbo men to support the campaign by establishing infrastructures to develope the Eastern states and create jobs, which she said would reduce the rate young men’s sojourn to other cities for greener pastures.
She also suggested amongst others that, churches in Igboland should worship only in the language, and Igbo language schools be created.
The president, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, said it would be a shame for Igbo, the language of a very strong and hardworking nation which can be found everywhere in the world would go into extinction.
Chief Iwuanyanwu promised to do all within his powers to support IWA by taking the campaign against the extinction of Igbo language to every Igbo gathering all over the world.
A guest speaker at the event, Dr Chinedu Ofomata in his address, said that the death of Igbo language started after the Biafran war, when men had to change their names and tribes to be able to remain relevant and fit into the government.
Dr. Ofomata who is an Igbo culture promoter and an author of over 200 Igbo books, called on governors of the Eastern states to establish Igbo schools and ensure that Igbo teachers are paid higher than others.
He decried that other subjects like physics, Chemistry and the rest are written and taught in English languages, which he said will be a hinderance to the growth of Igbo language.
Dr. Ofomata therefore called on Igbo scholars to developed Igbo vocabulary by producing an Igbo dictionary to help upgrade Igbo words.
The keynote speaker at the event Professor Arinze Agbanusi of the department of Philosophy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, said the death of Igbo language started from the wrong notion that a child that is raised in his indigenous language would find it difficult to learn and communicate in English language.
Prof Agbanusi maintained that a child between ages zero to five has the capability to speak and differentiate between five or more languages.
Prof Agbanusi while condemning punishing a child for speaking vernacular in school, said to redeem Igbo language from extinction, government addresses must always be delivered in Igbo and state houses of assembly hold their plenaries in Igbo and wear traditional attire.
International Mother Language Day is observed on 21st February every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism to preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way.
This year’s theme “Multilingual education – a pillar of learning and intergenerational learning,” aims to suggest that by starting education in the learner’s mother tongue and gradually introducing other languages, barriers between home and school are bridged, thus facilitating effective learning.
