From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), an Igbo women organisation, has vowed not to allow the Igbo language to go into extinction.
This comes as IWA has promised to galvanise women across the Igbo-speaking states in the country to join the United Nations in celebrating this year’s Mother Tongue Day on February 21.
The national leader of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, who disclosed this in Umuahia while briefing newsmen, said it was unfortunate that it was predicted the Igbo language would go into extinction in years to come.
Lolo Chimezie said it was for this reason IWA was galvanising Igbo women across the Igbo-speaking states in Nigeria to come together and proffer a solution to the problem.
“In 2006, the UN made a prediction that the Igbo language would go into extinction 25 years from the year of the prediction.
“Since mothers are the custodians of our language, we are guilty of this shortcoming, and we are ready to remedy the anomaly because women cannot allow our language to go into extinction.”
She said it would be a national embarrassment for the Igbo nation, with a population of over 40 million, for its language to go into extinction.
“Our mothers should rise and defend our language because if the Igbo language goes into extinction, the entire Igbo race will go into extinction too.
“On February 21, Igbo women will meet at the International Conference Centre (ICC) to address this nagging issue.”
Lolo Chimezie said it was not a thing of joy that one cannot easily identify an Igbo person, due largely to not being able to speak their mother tongue.
She urged the Igbo to borrow a leaf from their neighbours, the Hausa and Yoruba, whom she said identified with their mother tongue, come rain, come shine.
Lolo Chimezie used the occasion to call on Agunechemba, the security outfit in Anambra State, to cease extrajudicial killings.
While saying she was not against fighting insecurity in the state, Chimezie added, “Agunechemba has no right to arrest and kill, but when they arrest suspects, they should be handed over to the police.”
She called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to closely monitor the activities of the security outfit so that innocent Igbo youths would not be killed.