EDESON VIEWPOINTS: Why Make French Language Compulsory in Nigeria & Our Local Languages Optional ?

Endy Edeson

Neocolonialism is the practice of using business, culture to influence a country directly or indirectly. Nigeria adopted English Langauge because she was colonised by Britain, just as Chad uses french language as it's official language because the country was colonized by France. African Colonial masters have continued to influence Africans despite the sovereignty of the African States. In this 21st century, Nigeria should focus more on developing and

exporting local content instead of patronizing foreign contents all the time.

Presently, English is the only official language in Nigeria. Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and North Africa are the African countries with non European language as their Official language. Although, Burudi, Tanzania, Rwada, Swaziland are the few African countries with both European and local languages as their official languages.

South-Africa has 11 official local languages.

It was reported earlier that Nigeria Students from primary to tertiary institutions will henceforth learn French language compulsorily. The Minister of State for Education, Prof Anthony Anwukah, made this known recently when the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gaver, paid him a courtesy visit.

According to the Minister of Education:

“French language is a matter of necessity. We have to because we have Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Benin Republic, Togo Guinea, and Ivory Coast surrounding us and so there is need for us to get more Nigerians to become proficient in French language. This is good for the continent; it is good for us as a nation. It is good for our brothers at the borders because it will enable us to communicate with them effectively. The ministry is geared towards establishing French clinics in 104 government colleges, unity schools''

I am not against making French a compulsory subject in Nigeria considering it's relevance, I want the government to also make our 3 major languages, Igbo, Yoruba and Huasa compulsory in our schools and plan towards adding one or the 3 of these local languages as our official languages. We are too mature as a country to have English as our only official language.

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Written by: ENDY EDESON

THAT'S MY VIEWPOINT.

What Do you think? do you agree with me?

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FACEBOOK COMMENTS

Tomisin 'Hikmah' Ladipo and 2 others like this.

Uwax Lazarus

well said

Endy Edeson

@uwax: how many nigerian languages can you speak?

Uwax Lazarus

Igbo , Yoruba n igala partially

Endy Edeson

that's cool. though, i encourage Nigerians to learn other foreign languages but they shouldn't relegate local languages

Uwax Lazarus

datz d fact

Nomshado Q'tèè Ngwenya

I believe your ideology is in fact correct, it only makes sense to support and promote our own cultures as African Countries, to really break away from Neocolonialism we must acknowledge who we are and be proud of it. I hope your country officialise the languages used by your own people.

Endy Edeson

@ngwenya: i pray so. you are from which country?

Bemdoo Hulugh

Nice but on the other hand local languages can be always thought by the family. Abacha also added French as our official language but obviously we speak only english because that is our working language and the language we inherited from the colonial masters to communicate across ethnic lines. English is the most spoken language in the world today which naturally gives us advantage in the era of globalisation. If you again think about ECOWAS which is about allowing free movement of people and goods across our boarders and that most of these countries around us speak french then it is important we learn french too. I also support those who advocate we learn mandarin because it is the second most spoken language but only that is spoken in mostly Asia. If you put into consideration that China will soon be the next world power, then it is important we stay ahead of the game by learning mandarin now. It is about neo-colonisation but unfortunately civilisation as we know it today is defined by them. We can attempt to maintain our language and culture in different ways but we must be well positioned to compete in the era of globalisation.

Endy Edeson

@bemdoo: thanks for that insightful comment

Bemdoo Hulugh

Thank you,sir.

Nomshado Q'tèè Ngwenya

i get what Bemdoo Hulugh is saying but we must also preserve our differnt cultures within the country even though we try to stay ahead in the game... i am mostly surrounded by nigerians that the speak igbo language and for me its only fair that the country(Nigeria) recognises its existence and even other languages used in the country.... by officialising these languages we are preserving the historical background of the country, i am from South Africa, and we recognise foreign languages which includes French but get this it is optional and what is considered as official is our 11 official languages which spread across South Africa, i am not saying we are perferct but we are doing it anyway. In my humble opinion, im not saying they should not do it, but what i am saying is, make what is ours ours in all intent and purposes before you impose what is foreign to us and expect us to accept that... dont get me wrong, im for economic emancipation, but that should not take away what defines me as an African, to me it doesnt make sense whatsoever because if you go to France, French is an official language they dont compromise, so why should we compromise for them?

Bemdoo Hulugh

I understand you perfectly but it's a more complicated issue than you think. We are a country of more than 200 languages. If we decide to choose some few as official languages at the detriment of others it will bring a controversy and arose suspicion. We have 36 states And Abuja makes it 37. In my state alone we have 6 local languages and non is Igbo or Hausa or Yoruba which is your option to choose in terms of local language if you attend a Unity school. In Cross River state I understand people from same local govt speak different languages and non is Igbo, hausa or Yoruba. But there are still other ways. We can make a local language in each state compulsory in schools in that state,we can translate our religious books to our local languages which has been happening for sometime,we can teach our children these languages at home and we can put aside days to celebrate our heritage among others. Throughout history people have used a common language or religion to foster nationalism, here we can't use religion because Christians and Muslims are almost equal in number but we can use a common language that won't raise suspicion ie English. Maybe french or Mandarin shouldn't be an official language but they should be thought with all seriousness. It may be unfortunate but this is where we find ourselves. You will normally find the symbol of westernization everywhere in the world from dress sense to movies and so but the Asians have showed us that you can blend it with your heritage most especially when a country begin to attain economic prosperity.

Nomshado Q'tèè Ngwenya

Bemdoo Hulugh sorry to say this but the first part of your argument is an excuse not to do it, but this part >>> "But there are still other ways. We can make a local language in each state compulsory in schools in that state,we can translate our religious books to our local languages which has been happening for sometime,we can teach our children these languages at home and we can put aside days to celebrate our heritage among others" for me is being realistic, i understand the topic of "languages" is sentitive in every state. i respect your opinion, but we should not lose sight of what is important that's all im saying.

Bekere Becky Afaka

hey I like french