Revitalizing Igbo

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Revitalising the Igbo Language

Daily Champion (Lagos)
November 28, 2005

By Adiekwue A. Lotanna
Enugu

Okuko n'akpa nni, anya ufie akonaya (while a chicken scants for food, it
should not lose sight of other odd happenings around it) is a brief but
all encompassing statement of wisdom used to capture the essence of
guarded sovereignty - which in the instance of this write-up will factor
in on the plight of our dear but scantily revered Igbo language. Some
people do not think it is an overstatement to refer to our language - the
Igbo language as being endangered and facing gargantuan threats of
extinction going by its declining level of acceptability amongst umuigbo.
It is disheartening to see a language that is supposed to be an insignia,
a trademark and a common identity amongst us rather than being proudly
flaunted as treated with so much scorn and disdain. We seem to have
jettisoned the inter-generational transmission of the Igbo language in
exchange for 'newer trends', which include the Nigerian pidgin English and
the English language with their obvious linguistic threats.

Language in its general connotation is the vehicle with which the culture
and traditions of a people are transmitted from generation to generation,
and it also helps to enshrine unity, peace and decorum within a given
society. Consequently therefore, when a people cannot defend their
language, they automatically become an endangered specie, i.e. one with no
definite distinguishable language and cultural identity. A clarion call
was made by UNESCO who warned that many languages would be extinct by the
end of the 21st century. It therefore behoves umuigbo to salvage our
heritage from decadence by elevating the Igbo language at all levels of
the Igbo society.

Revitalizing the Igbo language means that our children should be taught
the language straight from our homes. A scenario where a second language
(English) takes precedence over our first language (Igbo) in an Igbo
family household, does not do well for the survival of the language.
Parents therefore owe it as a point of sacred duty to our fatherland to
teach their young infants who are still learning the rudiments of our dear
language because it is only in a family setting that kids are easily prone
to learning their local dialects. Out there in the school (kindergarten
and primary) where they mingle with children from other ethnic groups,
vernaculars are usually suspended while the English language ascends into
dominance. I had a personal experience in my home sometime in my junior
secondary days when our mum sensing her children were no longer proficient
enough in spoken English language and gave us a very bizzare rule. I know
so many readers of this piece can easily guess what this rule is without
losing much steam. Well, without further semantics, her rule stated that
the speaking of Igbo in the house be suspended till further notice.
Obediently but ignorantly, we complied. You could imagine us then brimming
with youthful exuberance at the thought of having our English arsenal
sharpened and ready to unleash a barrage on any unfortunate creature whose
prowess does not march ours. We finally secured a victim in the person of
the housegirl we had then who more often than not confused Igbo with
English while talking. The rule finally fell apart because at some point,
we all naturally got tired of blowing hot grammar and mum equally got fed
up with the role of an enforcer which she bestowed on herself. Dad also
intervened to save the situation because the whole thing didn't make much
sense.

This is an example of what is obtainable in many Igbo-speaking families
today where you can only guess that a household is ndigbo by the names
they call each other but just listen for a little while longer to see if a
simple bia will slip out from the tongue of any one of the family members,
you're in for a wait till thy kingdom come. Now tell me when the English
speaking virus has infected both the elderly and young ones alike, who is
going to be the proverbial one-eyed beggar that will lead a colony of
completely blind beggars? There is an Igbo adage that says okenye amanno,
ewu amayepu na-ogbuli (an elder will not sit back while the goat releases
itself from the rope that holds it bound to a spot). But in this instance,
some elders have been found wanting.

The dwindling fortunes of the Igbo language must be halted by any means so
as to avoid posterity's wrath. It calls for concerted efforts from all
stakeholders in the Igbo project because generations yet unborn should be
able to raise their heads high and say that they are ndigbo by virtue of
the fact that they can speak the language. The family as the bedrock of
any form of learning should inculcate the primary essence of language
learning in a child before he or she is exposed to the vagaries and
vicissitudes of a cosmopolitan society.

A Research Centre For Igbo Studies should be set up to articulate
strategies and policies that would guide us through. This centre could be
an arm of our apex socio-cultural organizing symposiums, workshops and
seminars that will educate and enlighten school pupils, market women,
business men/traders, civil servants etc on the need for proficiency in
written and oral literature. This department can partner with traditional
rulers, prominent sons and daughters of Igboland and civil society groups
to surmount this arduous task. An orthography committee should then be set
up to formulate modalities for producing an Igbo language Dictionary.
Publishers can publish daily, weekly or even monthly newspapers and
bulletins in Igbo language and circulated to every nook and cranny of this
nation.

The state governments of the eastern region should make the teaching of
the language mandatory at both the primary and secondary levels of
education for both public and primary schools. Pupils should then be
encouraged to take up Igbo literature courses in tertiary institutions by
the award of exclusive scholarships and special bursary allowance packages
in their favour. The federal government should on its part, make concerted
efforts at arresting the declining fortunes of Nigerian languages by
ensuring the practical realization of the language policy statements as
enunciated in the National Policy on Education.

Government should enact a policy that will scale down the influence of the
English Language in our curriculae at the secondary level thereby making
it no longer a compulsory subject in WAEC exams. In its stead, students
should be encouraged to study the literature of their native dialects and
mandatorily pass them with a credit (in the least) in the senior exams.

Adiekwue A. Lotanna, writes from Enugu

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