Mother Language Day:Language Key Aspect Of People’s Culture

The Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that language is one the key aspects of a people’s culture. He said this at the commemoration of the 2022 International Mother Language Day with the theme “Using Technology for Multilingual Learning, Challenges and Opportunities”.

The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Ifeoma Adaora Anyanwutakwu informed that the ministry had embarked on series of research and documentation on endangered languages over the years, stressing that the purpose was to prevent the nation’s intangible rich cultural heritage from going into extinction.

The International Mother’s Day was set aside by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to commemorate the sad massacre that occurred between the Bengali speaking people of Dhaka in Indonesia on February 21st 1952, adding that the initiative to celebrate Mother tongue day was proposed at the 1999 UNESCO General Assembly by Bangladesh.

The Ministry has keyed into the mandate of UNESCO by celebrating this year’s International Mother Language Day.

The objectives of the day include the preservation of linguistics diversity, promotion of mother tongue-based multilingual education and prevention of extinction of indigenous languages.

Earlier, the Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu said technology has made teaching and learning of mother language much easier.

The Minister who was represented at the occasion, emphasized on the key role mother tongue plays in sustaining Nigeria’s national unity adding that, it forms part of the country’s culture, he further said that there are 6500 languages in the world and some of the languages disappears every two weeks, hence the importance of protecting mother tongue.

In his own remarks at the occasion the Director, China Cultural Centre, Abuja, Mr. Li Xuda called for the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity in order to ensure sustainable societies.

He said the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria are multi-ethnic and multi-lingual countries, noting that Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups and over 500 languages, China also has 56 ethnic groups and many of them have their own languages and cultures.

Xuda said the theme of the day would proffer ways to unlock the potentials of technology, advance multilingual education, support the development of quality teaching and learning for all.

The Chairman of the occasion, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General National Council for Arts and Culture, charged Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of speaking their indigenous languages to prevent them from going into extinction.

Runsewe said many people had lost their rich cultural heritage to foreign ones.

Highlights of the occasion were presentations of poems, songs recitations in indigenous languages by participating schools.

Awards were presented to various schools for participation and competition for essay writing, poems and drama presentations in Nigerian mother language.

Ummaimah Umar Dikko

IO1 (IT)

29-06-2022