Was taken aback recently during one of my trips to Nigeria to realise that my brother's kids couldn't speak one word of our local language-yoruba. It was a bit surprising given the fact that they live in Nigeria(are aged between 9and 6) and attend school in Nigeria as well.
I was going to excuse it that the Mom and Dad were from different parts of Nigeria and so there might be a conflict as to whose language they should spaek. But i remembered that i am a product of a cross border relationship with my Mom being a foreigner and to help me grasp Yoruba, she attended a yoruba speaking church where i was taught to read and write yoruba.
Is this the trend in Nigeria now? Where kids can't speak the local language?
I know that in the UK some Nigerian families dont support their kids speaking any Nigerian language. I think that is not a great idea. But then it's only my own little thought.
Would love to hear your experiences.

That is very bad for a citizen not to no how speak or understand.Well i dont blame them but i blame the government and the parent.well theree is still hope for all nigerians if only they can enroll thier chldren in a skool dat speak thier language.and the government shu make it compulsory4 all2 toteach at least 2 nigerian languages in a skool.SOJIBOY

It's shameful. You can't lay claim to a country if you can't even speak the language.

i don't speak but i understand, shouldn't that count.

I attribute such phenomenon to inferiority complex.
You know, the complex issue that Oyibo language is superior to our mother's tongue, and as such, should be reverred over our local dialect. I say it is a shame.

However, no language is inferior to any other language!

@Shinor

I'm surprised you just realized this. The practice of some parents raising their kids in Nigeria without the kids being able to speak any other language than english has been going on for many years. In fact, I believe there is a thread here on Nairaland to this effect.

It is really saddening. To me, our indigenous languages should come first. We should all learn english because it is the language needed to get ahead in life, but this should not be at the detriment of our indigenous languages.

That seems such a shame. You should be able to speak your own language! Kids find it easy to learn several languages when they are very young, but it becomes a lot harder when you get older. Even if they decide to learn it later on, they may never become really fluent in it.

Ndipe:

I attribute such phenomenon to inferiority complex.
You know, the complex issue that Oyibo language is superior to our mother's tongue, and as such, should be reverred over our local dialect. I say it is a shame.

You're spot on there.

It's not just with language but with many other things in our lives.

Neo-Colonialism.

It has gotten really bad as even Kids in Nigeria can't speak their native language.
Their Parents should be blamed.

A real shame. And you have it: it's inferiority complex, and it's more than just the language. I don't think Europeans and Americans on a first time visit suffer culture shock, what with our clumsy mimicry of everything they 're about, from music to clothes to food to,hell, everything. The ones I can't stand are American wannabes and their fake accents. One can sound good and Nigerian, one can look good and Nigerian. Sure there are aspects of our culture that should bite the dust but not our language for crying out loud.

Shame shame shame shame shame!

I always feel a bit stunned when I come across people who were born and bred in nigeria but are unable to speak a word talkless of being fluent when it comes to their native language

@ post

even if u can't speak fluently, at least try and understand it so that they won't sell u in ya papa land

Tgirl4real:

@ post

even if u can't speak fluently, at least try and understand it so that they won't sell u in ya papa land

The same way those who doesnt live in Nigeria have this warped idea that everything Nigeria is bad, and not worth associating with, so also, those in Nigeria dont want to associate with anything Nigeria.

It's abit shameful to see that kids who are born and brought up in nigeria cannot speak their parents dialect, but u won't blame the children, on like me, i do understand my language very well but can't speak it much, It's reall best to talk with our children in our dialect when they are very young, but when it's multiple languages it makes the child learn slower.

My kid is only 4 years, and learning to talk and understand 3 languages, FRENCH ENGLISH AND URHOBO, i think he will not need my dialect in school or to work in the future but just for the normal conversation as par My mother is an Urhobo so i can understand the language abit or else i see no special reason why i am complicating my kid's head with multiple language, he always reply mein French when i talk with him in english, sometimes i feel like stoping to conversate with him in my dialect in order for him to catch up english and french better. If he happens not to speak my language very well will it be a shameful act too?.

Make una advise me befor it's too late as person no dey know finish oo.

whats this craze about local language. why do you need language in the first place. if anyone does not speak his or her local language it simply means they do not need it. cos if they do, they would. so lets forget this hypocritical nonsense and wise up. i wish a day will come when all nigerians will have a single language.

sammyzacks:

whats this craze about local language. why do you need language in the first place. if anyone does not speak his or her local language it simply means they do not need it. because if they do, they would. so lets forget this hypocritical nonsense and wise up. i wish a day will come when all nigerians will have a single language.

Now i am certain that you need psychological examination.

@plappville
Three languages. Lovely. I heard ages four to six is the best for kids to learn diverse languages. They don't get confused. You might be surprised to hear some kids have mastered Latin, French, English,Spanish and German by age six. The guy whose kid learnt Latin is a scholar and Catholic. I don't think 3 languages is too much for your kid. Give him tme. He'll master all three. I think it's great you're not in the country and your kid is learning your dialect. Unlike some inferiority-complexed asses who're right here in the country.I was visiting a friend once and their kid rushed in and told them something excitedly in Yoruba. The father was displeased and thought it warranted a spanking. It's an epidemic. Why cant our kids speak BOTH English and local languages?Haba!

Mad_Max:

@plappville
Three languages. Lovely. I heard ages four to six is the best for kids to learn diverse languages. They don't get confused. You might be surprised to hear some kids have mastered Latin, French, English,Spanish and German by age six. The guy whose kid learnt Latin is a scholar and Catholic. I don't think 3 languages is too much for your kid. Give him tme. He'll master all three. I think it's great you're not in the country and your kid is learning your dialect. Unlike some inferiority-complexed asses who're right here in the country.I was visiting a friend once and their kid rushed in and told them something excitedly in Yoruba. The father was displeased and thought it warranted a spanking. It's an epidemic. Why can't our kids speak BOTH English and local languages?Haba!

That means i will continue to encourage him, I think he is gonna learn more languages in collage, like Dutch and Spanish, anyway, thank u for ur advice.

Sammyzacks:
whats this craze about local language. why do you need language in the first place. if anyone does not speak his or her local language it simply means they do not need it. because if they do, they would. so lets forget this hypocritical nonsense and wise up. i wish a day will come when all nigerians will have a single language.

The only words that sounds reasonable to me is

i wish a day will come when all Nigerians will have a single language.

But i don't think this ur wish could ever materialise in centuries.

Interesting topic. I was amused when i read through peoples comments because i was brought up in Nigeria, i am Ibo and i CANNOT SPEAK A WORD OF THE LANGUAGE. In fact, i was brought up in the yoruba speaking part of Nigeria and i still CANNOT SPEAK A WORD OF YORUBA.

While i see reason with a lot of what is being said about speaking your local language, i am now in my late 30's and do not see what speaking Ibo or yoruba would have done for me that i have not been able to achieve so far. Will speaking the language have given me the job i have now, or will speaking the language ensure that i have good health and fortune in my life? Quite frankly, i think this language thing is very overrated because language is meant to be a form of communication. If i can communicate effectively with the person i need to communicate with, what is the problem? If the local dialect WAS THE ONLY FORM OF COMMUNICATION, of course i will be compelled to learn it.

While we are also argueing about this, i will like us to know that the problem is not only a nigerian thing. Having travelled far and wide, i can boldly say it that there are parts of the world where people cannot speak the local dialects because of the obvious reason - globalization. The welsh people in the United Kingdom are worried because rather than speak welsh, their children learn to speak french or spanish or other international languages. When asked why, these kids say that they would rather learn to speak an international language than learn the local one. The same goes for the Danish, Norweigian, Dutch and Swedish people, who speak english in their countries. Some of their children do not speak their national languages.

I say again, while it is nice that kids/people are able to speak their local dialects, it is not a do or die thing. Employers these days, even in Nigeria, would rather you speak an International language, than a local one.

I am always completely disgusted with Nigerians who were brought up in Nigeria but cannot speak any language. Its either that they had their ears soldered shut or they were being completely ridiculous and possibly daft too. I dont see how a child with an absorbent brain is not able to pick up the sounds of languages that are being spoken around them all the time

What annoys me further is the fact that they cant speak a Nigerian language and they cant speak english properly either. So what is it that they can speak? Broken English just doesnt cut it as a language.

Even though I was bought up in London (Hampstead and Mill Hill - at that time there were no blacks in that area let alone Nigerians), I still understand my mum and dad's language almost fluently, and not because they spoke it to each other all the time but because I was interested in where I came from and made an effort to learn. I havent started speaking it yet because I am not confident in my speech and more importantly there is no one to speak it to on a regular basis.

Poster,

I completely agree with you. I wonder why Nigerians usually associate the speaking of thier local language as inferior to speaking english. In the UK all tribes i come across like Indians, chinese, polish, italian spanish, pakistani etc all speak thier languages fluently and they also speak good english. I wonder when it comes to nigerian children, they cannot speak thier local language and still the spoken english is not fluent, Very sad indeed.