Otti, Egbokhare Renew Call for Mother-Tongue Teaching in Nigerian Schools

Abia State Governor Alex Otti and linguist Francis Egbokhare have called for stronger use of indigenous languages in early education, arguing that children learn better when they first understand the language used in the classroom. Speaking at the Fafunwa Educational Foundation’s annual lecture in Lagos, Otti said research supporting mother-tongue instruction should be considered seriously. He acknowledged challenges such as teacher shortages, learning materials and multilingual classrooms, but said these problems should be solved rather than used to dismiss the policy. Egbokhare said mother-tongue teaching does not mean abandoning English. He advocated a bilingual model that builds children’s cognitive foundation in familiar languages before introducing English more effectively. He warned that teaching in one language and assessing pupils in another can worsen Nigeria’s learning crisis. The event honoured the legacy of late educationist Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, whose work promoted indigenous-language education. Speakers urged policymakers, universities and schools to develop teacher training, textbooks and data-driven approaches for multilingual learning.

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