Stakeholders Seek Action To End Indigenous Language Extinction

Stakeholders have advised Nigerians to adopt measures that will prevent Nigeria’s indigenous languages from extinction.

They gave the advice at an event organised to commemorate the 2025 International Day of Mother Language on Friday in Jos.

The event with the theme “Language Matters” was organised by the office of the Senior Special Assistant on Middle-Belt Ethnic Nationalities to the Governor of Plateau.

Dr Adewumi Eric of the Department of Linguistics, University of Jos, decried the spate of indigenous language extinction in the country.

Eric, who was the Guest Speaker at the event, called on parents to promote their local languages to avert the looming disappearance of cultures.

“Our cultures and languages go hand in hand; if we allow our indigenous languages to fade away, our cultures will also disappear.

“Parents should regularly communicate with their children using the mother tongues; doing so will prevent the indigenous languages from going into extinction

“Remember, these children will be the adults of tomorrow, and if they can’t communicate in their languages now, what will they pass on to their children?

“Young people should also endeavour to float poems, skits, tik-tok videos, among others using indigenous languages,” he advised.

Earlier, Mr Dan Kwada, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Middle-Belt Ethnic Nationalities, said the event was organised in collaboration with the Conference of Autochthonous Ethnic Nationalities Communities Development Association (CONAECDA).

Kwada called for policies that would support language education and literacy programmes through the use of mother tongues in schools and communities.

“We must empower communities to take ownership of their languages and develop strategies for their preservation.

“We must also advocate for policies and programmes that promote linguistic diversity and support language preservation efforts,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Mr Cornelius Doeyok, the Commissioner for Tourism, Culture and Hospitality in the state, commended the governor’s aide for organising the event.

Doeyok said that the Mutfwang-led administration would initiate policies and programmes that would prevent indigenous languages from extinction.

“As a ministry, we have developed various strategies that will promote our cultural heritage as a people.

“To start with, we have agreed that every Tuesday of the week, all members of staff will appear in cultural attires.

“Soon, we shall take this campaigns to our primary and secondary schools so that we can encourage the young ones to embrace our cultures,” the commissioner said.