English: The Biggest Haram In Boko

By

Attahiru Muazu Gusau

attamuazu@yahoo.com

The historical exclusionist policies of colonialism, which undermined African indigenous languages in the scheme of things, had also set a precedence that made Africa a perpetual underdog and under achiever in her developmental drive and objectives. Arguments have been exhausted by  gallant pan- Africanists and intellectual figures on the need and necessity for the utilization of indigenous languages in the national affairs of African countries; for acculturation of knowledge to heal the disconnect that emanated from the implant of external and extra-regional memory, which supplants the African memory and alienates whole cultures and civilizations. But all the call, arguments and agitations always land on the deaf ears of elites that unfortunately are of a colonized mindset and have a vision and world view that see African values and institutions as representing only darkness and the antithesis of progress and development.  

In recent years, the country had witnessed various upheavals as a result of population explosion, which over stretched limited economic resources and worn-out infrastructures; intensifying regional and ethnic identity crisis that culminate into stiff competition for relevance in the politico-economic space amidst general decadence and institutional collapse. Red flags in the educational sector signal a complex multi layered crisis that rendered the sector ineffective and dysfunctional. The nation nowadays is frequently put to shame by the dismal figures of exams failure coming out of schools and the phenomenal high rate of school drop outs, which is an ominous sign of impending socio-economic doom. Unfortunately, in its search for the solution to this impasse the elites would still reject the policy fallout on the language of instruction as the basis of a disconnect that alienated the students and made them strangers in their own land. The antithesis between home grown institutions, cultures, societies and the reality of an imposed exoglossic supplant, which suffocates all avenues of growth and development of the indigenous languages has never been accorded the attention it merits despite the loud cry of our learned intellectuals.

The first casualty in this regard is of course education [the making of a civilized man]-due to the difficult and unnecessary hurdles put on its path. Furthermore, acquiring knowledge, when reduced to the formal educational process, implies a complete cultural and linguistic transplant from African indigenous memory to a European Anglo-Saxon memory; an unfortunate reality that sets in the crisis of alienation from the very beginning. The historicity of colonialists’ linguistic impositions, which was premised on the fallacy of “primitiveness of indigenous language”, was allowed to metamorphose into a permanent, indelible and indispensable feature in the educational process and indeed in the entire national life of the Africans. Again, language would be used to brand the colonized nations to permanent subjugation.  Neo-colonialism, through a lingo- orthographic rooting, would therefore prove even more devastating to the psyche and mentality of the contemporary elite to whom abandoning African values and institutions has become an a priori necessary principle. The rift continues to widen consequently, and Africa remains at war with itself.

 

The crisis of alienation and the fallout of insistence on foreign values have been made more eloquently conspicuous with the emergence of the embattled Boko-Haram sect; a religious movement that questioned the very basis of the current educational system from a religious perspectives. Religion, a principal component of identity alongside language and culture, is always imbued with that potential for political expression and assertiveness over and above culture and language. That is why religion, because of its rigidity and absolutism is critical in liberation struggles particularly in areas where antithetical values are superimposed.  But language, on the other hand, has that leverage and agility to incorporate innovations and change. The borders of language are permanently porous, giving it the capacity to absorb, reconcile and contextualize external elements, blending them perfectly into a given cultural matrix, thereby dissolving the disconnect that is the crisis of alienation and identity. Only through the agency of language could the wrong perception of the” otherness of knowledge”-be deconstructed into the universal matrix, such that terms like western education, Islamic science e.t.c. would no longer be viewed as mutual exclusivities or discrete entities on their own.  The implosion of Boko-haram therefore represents a climax of that feeling of alienation and opposition to perceived encroachment of external values in the sacred precinct of a culture largely defined by religion. Boko Haram  is a religious reaction to marginalization and alienation. Their emergence is expressive of the policy fallout of neo-colonialism and a clear failure to acculturate knowledge and the educational process by utilizing the assimilative potentials of indigenous languages. It’s an indictment of the successive governments and the elites who chose to sing the song of Ocol, while the people are singing the song of Lawino, in this unresolved battle between indigenous and foreign values and worldviews.

A responsible government would have been altruistic and pragmatic in its approach to the question of marginalization and would try to move towards healing the disconnect using all the power and resources at its disposal. The effort to decolonize our mindsets must begin by making conscious and deliberate decisions in the educational sector.   Any study of the causes of secondary school student’s failure in exams, for instance, would always reveal lack of grounding in the English language as a prominent contributor among others, which is indicative of  the huge socio-cultural and linguistic disconnect being experienced by the students. A pragmatic approach to this impasse should therefore include utilizing national languages as languages of instruction in some schools to at least compliment English language.

 To utilize indigenous  languages as antidotes to the crisis of alienation, the National  Policy on language and education needs to be reviewed and properly articulated to give the three National Languages (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa) same status as the official language in at least in the sphere of education; i.e. as languages of instruction in schools as posited earlier. Doing so would ensure that the lingua-franca are elevated from their restricted domestic usage to a rigorous academic and knowledge seeking life thus bridging the gap that developed between the people and the imposed exoglossic tongues. The only alienating-or rather the most alienating aspect of the educational process is the language of instruction, which is English in our case. When indigenous languages are brought to bear the burden of instruction, the problem of marginalization and disconnect would be healed to a great extent. Nothing makes knowledge any more English than our indigenous languages but our defeatist mentality and colonized mind set.

Does that mean that the status of English language as the Official language of the country should be changed for any of our indigenous national language? Or that English should be relegated to irrelevance in the scheme of things? Never! In fact it would be an intellectual, diplomatic and economic suicide for Nigeria to abandon English language for anything. Even countries much more advanced and developed than Britain, like Germany, are making the study of English language compulsory at all levels because of the global dominance it has and its strategic economic and diplomatic utility. It only means that the indigenous languages should be raised to such level of utility that would acculturate knowledge and facilitate horizontal spread to obliterate the crisis of alienation caused by the implant of European memory.

The problems of linguistic egalitarianism in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural set up like Nigeria is also another issue that can only be addressed when there is some concerted move on behalf of the indigenous languages. All the 400 or more of Nigerian languages are equal and must be treated as important in every language policy to be framed. However, the spread and utility of the regional and in some cases international lingua franca selected as ‘National languages’ must be exploited to acculturate knowledge to the indigenous reality. Utilizing the big languages must not be seen as marginalizing the smaller ones. It rather holds the key to a genuine development of all the languages. The language policy should particularly be vigilant in the preservation and development of all languages and cultures.

Nigeria at 51 has come of age and should be able make positive decisions and take steps that would mitigate the negative impact of colonialism on its people; particularly in those policies that have seriously undermined indigenous institutions and confine them to perpetual irrelevance. It is high time for this nation to dust off “The Asmara Declaration on African Languages and literatures” of 2000 and to bring to fruition the 10 points raised by “ scholars and writers from all over Africa”. This declaration is reproduced below for its importance:

 

At this historic conference, we writers and scholars from all regions of Africa gathered

in Asmara, Eritrea declare that:

 

 

1. African languages must take on the duty, the responsibility and the challenge

    of speaking for the continent.

 

2. The vitality and equality of African languages must be recognized as a basis

     for the future empowerment of African peoples.

 

3. The diversity of African languages reflects the rich cultural heritage of Africa

     and must be used as an instrument of African unity.

 

4. Dialogue among African languages is essential: African languages must use

    the instrument of translation to advance communication among all people,

    including the disabled.

 

5. All African children have the unalienable right to attend school and learn in

    their mother tongues. Every effort should be made to develop African languages

    at all levels of education.

 

6. Promoting research on African languages is vital for their development, while

    the advancement of African research and documentation will be best served by

    the use of African languages.

 

7. The effective and rapid development of science and technology in Africa

    depends on the use of African languages and modern technology must be used

    for the development of African languages.

 

8. Democracy is essential for the equal development of African languages and

    African languages are vital for the development of democracy based on equality

    and social justice.

 

9. African languages like all languages contain gender bias. The role of African

    languages in development must overcome this gender bias and achieve gender

    equality.

 

10. African languages are essential for the decolonization of African minds and

      for the African Renaissance.

In conclusion I say; Nigeria, give Africa a chance and let the renaissance begins