Don't be a bloody idiot. First the British came and destroyed half our culture, now you want to abandon it all together. For your information Nigeria was never meant to be one country but we're stuck together and we'll deal with it. If you want to become a fool with no roots then start with your own tribe. We'll be very happy to push you OUT of Nigeria when you're done.

Nonsense!

WoW, Tone down on the insults. He is just stating his opinion, and last time I checked "Freedom of Speech" still exists. What you seem to misunderstand is speaking one language isn't going to improve anything. You can't wipe out a great part of history and think nothing will happen. Most of these tribes will eventually integrate with other tribes, so I don't see this as much of a problem. Stop looking for an excuse in something so little, it will take more that merger of tribes or languages for that country to progress. The answer = Science.

I think that this thread have already won the most idiotic thread of the year. You want to solve your nigerian problem by banning local languages? Ewu, what of dividing nigeria of which Igbos have been agitating for? Do Igbos really need to worry about language problem in their separate country? What about oduduwa? do they really have to worry about yoruba language as a problem in their own separate oduduwa country? Must you do anything to keep nigeria ONE, even if it's silly? Nonsense!!

@POSTER, Your point is not bad. I'm ready for the change if only you can do this for me:- Sing happy birthday to You(the happy birthday song), using your own language. Hey! don't lie, did you get it?

My reason is this, I was in a class of about 30students from different countries, a girl was celebrating her birthday so the teacher asked everyone of us to sing the song(Happy birthday to You) in our own language. An english guy sang, German sang, Spanish sang, French, Sweden, etc, but when it reached my turn, believe me that was the day I realise how we are neglecting our own language.

Anyway, my point is this, I think your view is nice but we have to know/understand every bit/single word of our mother langugage before we start changing.

poster as richy black said, ur either naive or still a kid
no one else can come up with such a prepostrous solution to the problems of Nigeria
stop meddling in 'grown-up' affairs if u dont have a firm grasp of what the discussion is about,
its perfectly fine when u keep quiet

@Poster

They say charity begins at home. I recommend that you commit suicide so that it will be one person less than the people that speak your mother tongue.

At any rate, aint we already on the way? What percentage of today's kids grow up learning to speak (not listen ooo) their native language like it was wayback in time. Tell me, 40 years from now how willing will today's kids be to teach their own kids. Most especially if the kid is raised in an urban area.Ok, Maybe the rural areas still have it but then we know what they also dont have. just my two kobo

This guy failed to mention other countries that have more than one languages and yet remain developed, i won't list them here, i would allow him go study first and discover that himself,

Nigeria can in no lifetime do away with her local languages, at least not less than 50 of the over 300, we know that alot of these languages sound and means almost the same thing, the only thing that would happen is merging the ones almost nearest to the meaning of another.

if we decide to wipe out the local languages all in the name of development, then i would say there won't be any word like "Igbo" "Yoruba", "Hausa" e.t.c again in history,


by the way, don't forget that those other tribes like Italians, Germans, Turkish living in America and speaking English do that just because of comfort, not because they hate the language, believe me, when most of them travel back to their "motherland" without being able to communicate in their languages, they will feel really ashamed to associate themselves with their "origin" because Language plays a big role in discovery your root

And what language do you want those almajiris and some maisuya who understand only Hause language?

@Poster

I think you make sense.
This country is often divided
along those lines.

Nigeria can never adopt a common lingua franca not to talk of a common culture. It is on record that Citizens of Nigeria should be unified in diversity.

For the last few years I have been having this thought. Call me naive or crazy, but it seems that most of the nations we see as developed nations, have one national tongue.
Is it then probable that the sooner we shelved our local tribal languages, the better we stand to become as one united nation?

This reminds me of a topic I posted a while ago concerning an argument my father had with one bank manager - he (the manager) argued for a de-tribalized Nigeria via encouraged inter-ethnic marriages and ethnic dilution. He doesn't speak Igbo even though he is a south easterner.

The idea is potentially militant. Imagine him being our president. Forced rule has never been Africa-friendly - perhaps we could try accommodating our differences with autonomy by tribe (I argued for this) and things might be better. In theory, it should be, but the average Nigerian has more issues than tribal conflicts anyway.

Nigeria is far from hopeless, however (I don't understand why we harp on about how dismal Nigeria is)- There are many instances of change for better, suggestions that most of Nigeria's problems could be solved by the enterprise and brain power of its people. Time will tell.

This is rubbish. How about South Africa that recognises 12 languages as official?

Rubbish post. So I should throw away my own language and culture?

I think I see your point (I think), which is that Nigerians should start to see themselves as one. However, I think the government forcing the whole country to speak one language would be a disaster, tribesmen and tribeswomen will unite against other tribes and the divisions amongsts the 250 or so tribes in Nigeria would be greater than ever. The union of our country is not one which came about in a natural and harmonic manner but rather as a result of the imperialists desire to wield control over vast areas of land for economic benefit. In fact tribal divisions were some of the factors which helped coloniasm work in Nigeria and other African countries. Nonetheless, we are now all Nigerians and have to find a common goal which unites us. The difficult part is finding what that thing is. I do however doubt that it is language.

bebure:

I think I see your point (I think), which is that Nigerians should start to see themselves as one. However, I think the government forcing the whole country to speak one language would be a disaster, tribesmen and tribeswomen will unite against other tribes and the divisions amongsts the 250 or so tribes in Nigeria would be greater than ever. The union of our country is not one which came about in a natural and harmonic manner but rather as a result of the imperialists desire to wield control over vast areas of land for economic benefit. In fact tribal divisions were some of the factors which helped coloniasm work in Nigeria and other African countries. Nonetheless, we are now all Nigerians and have to find a common goal which unites us. The difficult part is finding what that thing is. I do however doubt that it is language.

that's the riddle of the century. Is there anything that can unite Nigerians since obviously having the same skin color, being of the SAME NEGRO RACE, and having mostly similar cultures, isnt doing it for them.

Anyone who can solve this Herculean task should be taken to Hollywood to be the main star in a blockbuster Nigerian version of Slumdog Millionaire.

kaygee1234:

This is rubbish. How about South Africa that recognises 12 languages as official?

No wonder the country is importing Nigerian professionals by the truckload while the whites are hotfooting it out of there on anything moving.

tpia:

No wonder the country is importing Nigerian professionals by the truckload while the whites are hotfooting it out of there on anything moving.

Another rubbish thought. Who said that? Just in a bid to make an intelligent post, you floored yourself.

For God's sake what has that got to do with development? Why on God's earth would you advise me to abandon my culture and make my language 2nd class in a bid to support development? Abegi.

.

From Chrishenzo
[Quote]My reason is this, I was in a class of about 30students from different countries, a girl was celebrating her birthday so the teacher asked everyone of us to sing the song(Happy birthday to You) in our own language. An english guy sang, German sang, Spanish sang, French, Sweden, etc, but when it reached my turn, believe me that was the day I realise how we are neglecting our own language.[/quote]
Your inability to sing 'happy birthday' in your language is not due to neglect of our language but lack thereof of the 'happy birthday' song in igbo or any Nigerian language for that matter. You can't blame this generation for the archaic ways of the older generation. Back in the olden days, I'm sure our fore-fathers didn't celebrate birthdays much less singing the 'happy birthday' song. Nigerians today acknowledge birthdays due to colonization. Left to the older generation, birthdays are just another day. That's the african mentality. Your german and italian counterparts on the other hand are westerners so singing happy birthday in their languages should be expected.

@topic, you kinda make sense but we all know it's not going to happen. And for y'all saying language is the least of Nigeria's problem, you are so wrong. Ethnocentrism is one of the biggest problems Nigeria faces. I come across topics belittling one ethnic group or the other on a regular basis here on nairaland.

I also think it's totally unfair that some people's language are regarded as not among the 'main' languages of the country. Why are igbo, yoruba, and hausa the only main languages? There would be some level of equality if everyone speaks the same language, then one group wouldn't feel better than the other. But anyways, it will be a miracle if it happens.

IF WISHES WERE HORSES,

God made all the black languages. We dont need to ban ethnic languages men.
That is wrong. That is exactly what the white racists want you to do.
They destroyed the ability of the black slaves to extend their languages to their children
And you want to do the same.
Dont we have English language for inter-ethnic communication.
Black people unite.

Nnenna1:

This reminds me of a topic I posted a while ago concerning an argument my father had with one bank manager - he (the manager) argued for a de-tribalized Nigeria via encouraged inter-ethnic marriages and ethnic dilution. He doesn't speak Igbo even though he is a south easterner.

My response to Nnenne1's topic, and it's also applicable here. . .

ChinenyeN:

His ideas [in this case, the original poster of this topic] aren't foolish. Not at all. I just think that it is really unnecessary. There is no need to go to that extent in order to create a unified Nigeria. People don't even need to think of themselves as Nigerian first before their ethnic groups in order to create a unified Nigeria. Unity comes through accepting similarities and accepting differences, working with those similarities and working through those differences. Eliminating ethnicity [in this case, the multiple ethnic languages] (which will not work) is a rather extreme way of forcing change on a nation. The kind of change he is advocating is unnecessary.

I'm with your dad [Nnenne1's dad] on this one, except I'm not scoffing at the ideas. I just don't accept it as being the true means towards the end that he seeks.

.

chiogo:


I also think it's totally unfair that some people's language are regarded as not among the 'main' languages of the country. Why are igbo, yoruba, and hausa the only main languages? There would be some level of equality if everyone speaks the same language, then one group wouldn't feel better than the other. But anyways, it will be a miracle if it happens.

they are the main languages due to their widespread use, over time some languages would be lost and new ones would be created. It's inevitable that the small ethnic groups would be absolved by larger ethnic groups. that's how a National identity is created.

Gassssssssssssp!!!!!!!!!

Ban Yoruba ke?

Emi o gba o

why u go ban our local Languages.

Tpia, You have to come to terms with the over 300 languages in Nigeria. Its not exagerrated I am telling you,

Try visit the middle belt like Plateau, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Taraba, Borno Yobe, Bauchi and Gombe make you see languages for yourself. Bauchi alone has like 40 languages

@topic
i feel you and follow ur trend of thought and i second it. just think of an utopian world where all nigerian speak one language either by birth or by adoption, i think it will be a beautiful world void of mutual distrust( or less distrust among ) ourselves.
People simply are so sentimental about their languages that they miss the point of the poster.
an example is the hausa and the fulani nations that eventually evolved to become one nation that is indistinguishable. for that to happen one language has to give way. majority of the fulanis dont understand their native lang( fulfude) but they all basically understand hausa even to a small degree because hausa is a recognised commercial language that has a lot of advanges. so is english language. the more we recognse as a binding commercial and social language, the better for us . i rest my case

Banning Our Local Languages. can not solve anything.

where do we start from?

tpia:

please go and sit down somewhere.

Someone made a simple observation and you want to cry? Cry buckets then.

na only you get culture and language?

and who told you whites arent fleeing south Africa while Nigerians are running there to fill in the gaps?

Your tears no gree you see reality?

Make this woman comot for internet I beg. Why I go ban my original language in a bid for survival. You argument as to whites leaving SA holds no water in this instance. By the way, go to England when the Muslims are celebrating their festival and visit some places like Manchester and Bradford, you'll see the roads are blocked in a bid to allow these lot to celebrate in freedom and also the councils have translations for people who cannot speak English and likewise they'll ask you if you need an interpreter so they can provide you one if you're supposed to have an interview at the hospital.

Comot for here joo. You need to see past your New Zealand.

Rubbish. You can cry all you like but Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa (and all ther Naija languages) are there to stay and would never be second class. If you're not happy, then go hug a tree.

@ poster

How will banning our local languages solve anything, instead it will get worse.

Language ko, tongue ni,

Banning of Local Languages will only take us decades backwards. what this will cause to the psyche of the children growing is to always look up to Europe and other English speaking countries for direction. we already lack self confidence and pride. This will kill it completely. I don't see anything positive this will achieve. The Asians e.g the Chinese, Koreans, Indians made a delibreate effort of preserving their culture that is why they come up with their own innovations. Nigerian artistes are now making conscious attempts of letting their culture(especially language) reflect in their works and we all can see the improvement and recognitions coming as a result of that. Today you'll watch Hollywood movies and you hear yoruba being spoken. This i think is good for Tourism cos it'll only make people curious and want to learn more about our culture. Moreover I don't see how local languages affect development. Even a deaf & dumb knows whether the roads are good or bad or when there is constant electricity. What we need to strive for is building confidence in our judicial and electoral sytems, it will reduce suspisions along ethnic and tribal lines. What am sying is. U don't have to be Ibo to know that Kanu/Okocha are good players and every football loving Nigerian supports them irrespective of tribe.