Anunobi Calls For Protection Of Nigeria’s 500 Indigenous Languages

The national librarian and chief executive officer of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Prof. Chinwe Veronica Anunobi, has called for urgent and sustained efforts to safeguard Nigeria’s more than 500 indigenous languages.

She warned that the extinction of any language represents an irreversible loss of history, culture and identity.

Anunobi stated this in Abuja yesterday,  at the commemoration of 2026 International Mother Language Day, organised by National Library of Nigeria under the theme, “Youth Voices On Multilingual Education.”

LEADERSHIP report that International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by UNESCO, is a global reminder that language remains the foundation of learning, identity and national development.

Citing global data, she observed that about 40 per cent of the world’s population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand, a situation she said compromises children’s cognitive development, academic success and self-esteem.

“In Nigeria, a country with over 500 indigenous languages, the stakes are even higher. When a language disappears, we do not merely lose words; we lose history, indigenous knowledge systems, medicinal practices, oral literature, philosophy and identity.”

She further described young librarians and officers as custodians not only of books but of voices, serving as the bridge between indigenous knowledge and digital futures.

The Librarian urged them to promote indigenous language collections in their branches, support community documentation projects, integrate multilingual resources into digital repositories, encourage reading clubs and literacy initiatives in local languages, and partner with schools to advocate mother-tongue-based learning.

“As the apex library institution in Nigeria, we must lead by example. Let our branches across the federation serve as hubs for indigenous language preservation. Let our digitisation efforts capture oral histories.

“Let our National Repository amplify Nigerian linguistic scholarship. Let our youth drive innovation in multilingual information services,” she said.

Anunobi called for renewed institutional commitment to revitalise, preserve, promote and document indigenous languages, while educating and amplifying youth voices. She stressed that the future of Nigeria’s knowledge system depends not only on technology but also on language, and that the future of language depends on collective action.

She urged every staff member, especially young professionals, to see themselves as ambassadors of multilingual education by speaking their mother tongues with pride, documenting and digitising them, teaching them and celebrating them.