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National Dialogue: Adopting A National Language By Carlisle U. O. Umunnah
Saturday, January 7, 2006
In my previous articles, I raised some serious matters, one being the complications in the use of English language in Nigeria as the national language. I strongly condemned and considered it an affront, antithetical, and a burden in respect to what we are and who we are as a people and as a nation. Compromising our languages under any circumstance[s], especially when it comes to national pride, is not only aberrational it is a tragedy. It is important to state categorically here that a nation’s national language is inseparable from the national character, development, science, education, and anything nationalistically driven and found amongst our peoples. Suffice it to say that Nigeria for over 45 years of its existence has erroneously and shamelessly adopted another nation’s language and has atrociously gone as far as making English its lingua franca. To the point that the miscued behavior, in this writer’s view, is attributed to its unforgotten nemesis of foreign-interventionism, including post-slavery, postcolonial-traumatic syndrome, let the healing begin today. I suggest that English language becomes the last language, if not jettisoned, after all other languages in Nigeria.
The fact that we are still using English language as our national language reveals an appalling state of the country’s psyche about its identity and direction as a republic. English language showcases, as part of the conspiracy theory, the demise of Nigeria languages, which curiously pitches us in trenches one with another. Regionalism, ethnicism, and nepotism are partly traceable to our misunderstanding of regional and ethnic languages found in Nigeria. Nationalism, self-actualization, and national identity will continue to elude us in as much as we live, adore, and dwell on anything foreign and disrespect anything indigenous.
In your face, fellow citizens, commentators, and visitors alike, both at homeland and abroad, I have a question to ask each of you. My question to you is: What language would you prefer as Nigerian national language?
Could it be Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, or any other? It is important to make the language case as part of the ongoing national dialogue. I have presented to you three major languages of Nigeria, the Big-Three [BT] nations. This is because the BT are Nigeria’s dominant ethnic groups, the dominant languages and the macro-nemesis since the 1914 Amalgamation that resulted in the country we call Nigeria. Yes, we know and understand that Nigeria is a child of circumstance. You can call it a bastard and what not. Regardless, at the end of the day, Nigeria-state has come to stay, unless we say to each other and peacefully through national dialogue that we are tired of each other and have decided to bid each other farewell. Otherwise, we have to figure out how to come together linguistically.
As a reminder on this national issue, I have enclosed some of my previous linguistic constructs, which were raised in my article in response to another article titled, “Ngozi as our next President” project. In part of the aforementioned article, I retorted thus:
“Many Nigerians in far lands, more often than not have gone through hypnotization and pornographization and other social-cultural transformations to the point that they confuse developments at home with those found in their adopted countries. These and other borrowed elements from foreign countries are more often than not antithetical to the psycho-cultural dynamics found in the homeland. For example statistics show that about 90 percent of Nigerians in foreign lands by omission or commission, negligence or ineptitudes or all of the above do not speak, read or educate their children in their local Nigerian dialects. Yet these groups claim patriotism while linguistically their practices at their individual homes are antithetical and unpatriotic. For me, to speak, read and educate our children in our local dialects are elements of patriotism and indeed a national pride.”
That said and as part of the ongoing national dialogue in finding a way forward for the country called Nigeria, what language should be adopted as the national language? Admittedly, the question projected above is a hard nut to crack in today’s Nigerian sociopolitical theater. Ethnic and regional chauvinism and pseudo-patriotism are impediments that would not allow for an intelligent judgment when it comes to selecting a singular language acceptable to all Nigerians for its national language.
There is nothing wrong in trying with an open mindedness to choose a national language. After all, developing new language mechanisms, by adopting three languages for all Nigerians (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba) ahead of English language for example, in addition to other languages found across Nigeria, is a doable and a beautiful thing to do. When this concept is accomplished, Nigeria will become a model and a hallmark of accomplishment. By accomplishing something never accomplished anywhere in the world, Nigeria would have set the pace and become a model to other nations when it comes to coexistence and national pride. Other nationals would flood to Nigeria for research and to learn and seek to know how Nigerians succeeded. They would come to Nigeria to learn something, to learn something unique from Nigerians in additions to other accomplishments. If records show that it was possible and doable in China, Russia, Britain, and elsewhere, then it is possible and doable in Nigeria.
We cannot continue to use other English, the language of Britons, while our indigenous languages are in decline in our homeland, homes, and workplaces. Our youths are facing humongous challenges at home and abroad when it comes to our languages and some of our parents, brothers, and sisters are not doing a good job in this matter. Markedly, something is wrong and something needs be done to check this national decline with immediacy. A decline in the use of our languages is a decline in our character, ethics, education, culture, traditions, and everything else.
Could you imagine, during this Holidays I place a call to my family in Nigeria. I spoke Igbo language with my parents and everything went pretty well. When it came to my younger brothers and sisters, some of them -- not all -- wanted to converse with me in English, even though I was communicating with and speaking to them in Igbo. As far as linguistics and its mechanics are concern, the foregoing scenario was a catastrophe.
How come if you go to China, they speak, teach, educate, trade, and transact business in Chinese; if you go to Russia, Russians speak, teach, educate, trade, and transact in Russian; if you go to Germany, Germans speak, teach, educate, trade, and transact in German language; if you go to Britain, the Britons speak, teach, educate, trade, and transact in English; if you go to Arabian countries, Arabs teach, educate, trade, and transact governmental and or private businesses in Arabic; and if you go to France, the French teach, educate, trade, and transact their businesses in French. Sadly and unfortunately, when you come to Nigeria, with its beautiful regions and beautiful ethnic nations, you see something different: language decline and strangely so. It forces its citizenry to teach, educate, and transact its businesses and governmental activities in a foreign language called English. This is a smack in the face and a disgrace to Nigerians, Nigerian nationalism, and its national pride.
Even our President and leaders should begin to use our languages or any of the Big Three [BT] languages to communicate at intergovernmental functions. We should teach and learn the BT languages. Where necessary use it at the comity of nations. Nationalities who find it difficult to comprehend the languages at the United Nations or other international platforms should be provided with trained interpreters. This is a national duty and a responsibility for each of us.
National language has its advantages: It is will improve, increase our tourism network and better our national, regional, and local economies. For example, those multinationals coming to partner with us within the oil industry and others will have to smarten to learn our languages; if not, it might be impossible to operate and do deals within the industry and with other industries. It will also move our languages to the global stage and even become internationalized. The internationalization will set the language up to compete with other international languages in that order. Our languages will become a source of revenue because individuals and nations will flood our land to learn our languages in order to do business with us just as we are flooding their lands and learning their languages and doing business with them. It is a fair game.
Our local authorities or language instructors will become high value assets in high demand, respected at home and abroad. Everything is not oil and gas; our languages could generate us funds and better our economy, an additional engineering and source of revenue for the homeland. Let us choose one language or use the Big Three [BT] Hausa, Igbo, or Yoruba, as our national language[s] today. This is part of who we are. It is our national and local identity and a rubricon in preservation of our national pride. Nationally, regionally, and locally, our caveat and method of communication with one another will improve tremendously and get better each passing day if we pay attention in this new avenue. We will communicate with each other better and richer than before because it is our mother tongue. With an acceptable national language, we will be able to build better bridges for ourselves and for all mankind in the 21st century. Using our local dialects and languages, we will be a smarter and stronger people and a stronger and smarter nation.
Carlisle U.O. Umunnah is a freelance writer; he lives in New York City, NY
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