Language is a culture. Culture is people. No one lives without language. - Okoro Mark Ogbonnaya

The Igbo nation is one of the most populous of the indigenous African peoples almost equaling their population in the diaspora. The Igbo are an ethnic group native to the present-day south-central and south-eastern Nigeria. UbuntuFM's Ikenna Okeh recently recorded the interview with 'Maazi' Okoro Mark Ogbonnaya as follows:
It’s nice to get in touch with you, Maazi Ogbonnaya
It is my pleasure...
What is the significance of the title ‘Maazi’, as is noticed to precede your name and a few other’s in recent times?
'Maazị' could mean different things to different people. To the Ngwa tribe of the Igbo nation, ‘Maazi’ goes with greeting to an elderly person. But generally, ‘Maazị’ means ‘Mister’ or ‘Master’. The full title of mine is "Maazị Igbo", meaning ‘Master of the Igbo Language’. It is what any man teaching Igbo Language, literature and culture is called.


I was given the title while in Junior Secondary 2 by my then Igbo female teacher due to my remarkable contribution and outstanding performances in Igbo studies. Prior to this time, my grandmother referred me to as 'Maazị'. People chose to call me Maazị because they said that I am a young man with an elderly brain. Before I knew it, it has hopped into my name.
So, tell us about your work and its relevance to the Igbo nation of West Africa.
I have written in almost all the topics affecting the Igbo nation. Through stories I gathered from my late aged-grandmother, old books I have read and stories people told around me, I was able to gather information about the past. I was able to narrate past issues which involved inter and intra-community conflicts, to preserve knowledge and history for the future generation. I decided to write in Igbo.
My works span across academics, family lives, communal issues, conflicts, government, careers etc. There is no code-switching or code-mixing in my works. Everything is purely Igbo. However, to say the least, one of the prominent relevance of my works to the Igbo nation of West Africa is that they preserve their language and culture through Literature, now and for posterity.
There is a forecast that in the near future the Igbo language would become one of the indigenous African languages to go extinct. Do you subscribe to this opinion?
I can say "Yes" and "No". Why do I say a ‘yes’? As a linguist I am conversant with the following terms: Language Shift and Language Death. In a situation where the owners of a language fail to communicate or write using their language, the language either metamorphoses into another language or it dies.
I also say a "No" to the threat because I have done so many projects in the Igbo language and I see some other youths of my generation doing the same in different angles, to keep the language breathing. I know quite number of persons whom my works have aroused; their interests developed to grab the bull of their language by its horns. When everyone stand to see his language as a blessing and communicate with it daily you will see that the forecast will be proven false.
But if the Igbo people fail to communicate, speak and write with the Igbo Language, I am afraid the language will die and shift to other languages, as is the case with Latin. The fate of the Igbo Language is in the hands of the Igbo people.
Evidently, the Igbo language is not restricted to communication purposes. Its subtleties are laden with the cultural values of the Igbo people. Does it then follow that a threat to the existence of the language is also tantamount to a possible extinction of the culture of the people?
Yes. Language is a culture. Culture is people. No one lives without language. Language and culture are like husband and wife. They cannot produce children if there is no intercourse. In Igbo Culture for instance, kolanut is a great cultural phenomenon. Without kolanut, no event takes place in Igboland. But one important rule of the kolanut is that it doesn't understand any foreign languages. While using it for cultural gatherings or events in Igboland, one must speak Igbo with it. Hence the saying "ọjị anaghị anụ Bekee" (the kolanut doesn't understand English).
Now, assuming that the Igbo Language dies, the cultural aspects of the Igbo nation regarding the kolanut will die too. What about cultural dances and performances? What about various occasions and festivals like traditional marriages, funerals, masquerades, New Yam Festivals? These events are well represented using the Igbo Language. How can a generation without a native language competency or interest handle these rites that require native-language competency? It is glaring that when such ones cannot use the languages of these rites, the culture and tradition embedded in them will fizzle away and die. No language, no culture.
How exactly does your work forestall such an apparently dismal future?
The most important thing is that my works are written in Igbo Language. This is the first approach to fight the future threats facing the Igbo fate. While writing about the contemporary issues, I do well to incorporate cultural consciousness into my works.
The cultures of the Igbo nation include how they speak. And one significant aspect of the Igbo Cultural and Communicative competence lies in the use of proverbs. Chinụa Achebe defined it as "the palm oil with which the Igbo eat words". Igbo wisdom and philosophy are embedded in words of proverbs. Anyone who says or interprets proverbs is seen as an experienced fellow.
While reading my books, you will be swimming in the ocean of the Igbo proverbs and other figurative expressions. My works are a replica of the Igbo essence. You will see the Igbo nation, culture, language and prisms through my works. This effort will go a long way to forestall such an apparently dismal future regarding the Igbo Language and Cultural extinction.
Could there be a possibility that the growing decline of the Igbo language is attributable to the diluting effects of urbanisation, mostly if one is to consider that the Igbo people make a high percentage of the African Diaspora?
I actually don't believe that. Igbo people in diaspora still maintain their native names. Chimamanda Ngọzi Adichie for instance left Nigeria to the United States of America at the early age of 19. She didn't allow Western influence and the so-called civilization to rob her of her cultural and linguistic identity. She still maintains her name, speak and write in Igbo too. Hardly will you see any Igbo man or woman in the diaspora without an Igbo name. They are aware that language is an identity.
Coming to Igboland presently, many people see their native names as devilish and primitive. They threw them away and adopt indescribable names like Linda, Mhiz Anabel Mhiz, Potipher, John, Francis, Chrysanthus, Horsefall, etcetera, so as to sound Westernized. Such folks never leave Igboland to anywhere. They fail to understand that language is preserved through names. When you bear an Igbo name, it makes you conscious of your language and identity.
I will disagree to the point that the reason for the growing decline of the Igbo Language is caused by those in diaspora. Millions of Igbo at home cannot even speak or write Igbo. When you meet such ones, they will proudly tell you: "I am Ibo but I cannot hear, write or speak Ibo. Please speak in English". Astonishingly, these folks were born and raised in Igboland.
Urbanisation and Diaspora have nothing to do with the decline of Igbo Language, but the attitude of an Igbo man towards his language does. Meet your Igbo brother at home or abroad, he will cringe away from you the moment you open your mouth to speak Igbo.
The major problem facing the Igbo Language is the Igbo parents. They punish their children for speaking Igbo as they believe that fluency in English alone is a mark of outstanding intelligence.
Children grow into adults with this mindset, and then go on to inculcate it into their own children.
http://www.luckynewsinfo.com/2017/11/language-is-culture-culture-is-people.html?m=1