‘New Language Policy Will Set Nigeria’s Education backwards’

Nigeria’s newly announced language policy has generated public outcry from some Nigerians, among them the President of the Bauchi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA), Hon. Aminu Mohammed Danmaliki, who has said that Nigeria’s new language policy contradicts global best practices and could undermine education, culture, and national identity.

Danmaliki described the policy as “A step backwards for education and national identity.” He called on the Federal Ministry of Education, NINLAN, NERDC, state ministries, traditional institutions, civil society, and the media to urgently review the policy to protect Nigeria’s linguistic and cultural sovereignty.

Aminu, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Bauchi, said, “Nigeria’s decision goes against global best practices and its own educational heritage. Language is not just a tool of communication; it is a vessel of culture, thought, and identity. A nation that neglects its languages risks intellectual dependency and cultural extinction.”

Danmaliki reminded Nigerians that the federal government already has agencies mandated to protect and strengthen indigenous languages. These include the National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), and national broadcasting agencies.

Alhaji Aminu Danmaliki argued that countries like China, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, and Ethiopia prioritise the mother tongue as the foundation of national development, saying that Nigeria is moving in the opposite direction, despite being a long-standing signatory to UNESCO and UN conventions promoting mother-tongue education.

“The UNESCO and UN conventions, along with Nigeria’s previous National Policy on Education (NPE), emphasised the use of a child’s first language or community language in the early years of schooling. The new policy, however, reaffirms English as the primary medium from the outset,” Danmaliki said.

“Research from UNESCO (2003) and the World Bank (2021) shows that children learn best in a language they understand. Early literacy in the mother tongue improves learning in other languages, preserves culture and identity, boosts self-esteem, encourages community participation, and reduces school dropout rates,” he added.

Aminu Danmaliki warned that abandoning indigenous languages could lead to cognitive disadvantages, making it harder for children to grasp abstract concepts, causing cultural alienation and disconnection from heritage and increasing inequality, as rural and disadvantaged children fall behind their urban peers.

“While English provides a neutral, unifying platform in Nigeria’s multiethnic context, making it the exclusive medium of instruction at foundational levels is pedagogically unsound and socioculturally harmful,” he added.

The stakeholder recommended a balanced approach, including early primary education (P1-P3). Teach in the mother tongue while gradually introducing English, upper primary levels (P4 onward). Transition to bilingual or English-dominant instruction once the child’s conceptual foundation is solid, “Countries like Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Finland successfully follow this model, using local languages to build literacy and innovation,” he noted.

Danmaliki emphasised that English-only instruction could have severe consequences, such as millions of children failing to grasp core concepts early, indigenous languages risking erosion or extinction, and education becoming foreign-oriented and disconnected from local realities.

“A people that abandons its language abandons its history, worldview, cultural memory, and sense of belonging. Indigenous knowledge in medicine, agriculture, governance, conflict resolution, and ethics is carried in our languages. Weakening them weakens our intellectual heritage.”

Studies across Africa have shown that children learn faster, literacy improves, cognitive development increases, and dropout rates decrease when mother tongue instruction is used.

Danmaliki proposed a forward-looking policy that strengthens mother-tongue education at early levels, trains more indigenous language teachers through NINLAN, expands indigenous language broadcasting and publishing, and digitises Nigerian languages to make them AI-friendly. The policy also promotes the use of indigenous languages in governance, commerce, and the creative industries, while safeguarding minority languages from extinction.

“Nigeria’s strength lies in its diversity. Our indigenous languages are not obstacles; they are resources, treasures, and pillars of identity,” he emphasised.

He emphasised that the new policy must be reassessed for the sake of national unity, social justice, and the future of Nigerian children.

He added that outside Africa, every central region uses its indigenous language as the primary medium of instruction, while Africa largely retained colonial languages. This has resulted in poor comprehension, low literacy rates, high dropout rates, weak innovation, cultural confusion, and the endangerment of local languages.