How the Mother Tongue was frustrated as Nigeria’s Language for Instruction

By Dr. P. I. Anyagh

Full Article @ https://villagemath.net/2019/06/11/how-the-mother-tongue-was-frustrated-as-nigerias-language-for-instruction/


Historically, education in MT was introduced in Nigeria by the Christian Missionaries just before the middle of the nineteenth century. This was because most of the missionaries believed that the African child was best taught in his native language. This shows that the teaching and learning in indigenous languages received much genuine attention in those early days of western education in the country.

Unfortunately the efforts were frustrated by the then Nigerian elites, and their position was gradually accepted by government, perhaps because they controlled the government of the nation, as it is seen in Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s statement on 1st October 1960 “English will continue to be our official language for a long time.” Hence English language was accorded more prominence.