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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE) has strongly criticised the Federal Government’s decision to scrap the National Language Policy, urging the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to reverse his decision and restore mother tongue as the language of instruction at foundational levels of schooling.
The NAE, in a position paper submitted to the minister, argued that overwhelming evidence supports early education in indigenous languages, which it said improves learning outcomes, strengthens cultural identity, and promotes inclusive national development.
A statement, signed by NAE President, Emeritus Prof Olugbemiro Jegede, and Secretary General, Prof Chris Chukwurah, described the policy reversal as a ‘grave disservice’ to Nigeria’s educational progress. It warned that discontinuing mother tongue instruction without rigorous evaluation amounted to ‘permanent re-colonisation and the burial of Nigeria’s future and pride.’
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The Federal Government recently cancelled the 2022 National Language Policy, designating English as the sole medium of instruction at all levels, a position Alausa restated at the 2025 Language in Education Conference organised by the British Council in Abuja.
But NAE maintained that research, including historic programmes such as the Ife Six-Year Project, and recent bilingual education studies, show that pupils taught first in their native languages perform better academically, even in English, than those introduced prematurely to foreign-language instruction. The Academy faulted the rationale provided by the minister, insisting that poor performance in public examinations cannot be attributed to mother tongue instruction, which ends at primary four.
It said no empirical data supports claims that indigenous language teaching has undermined educational outcomes in the past 15 years.
