Nasarawa govt. proposes law to compel use of mother tongue – Commissioner

The Nasarawa State government has concluded plans to enact a law to compel parents and children to speak their local languages so as to preserve them from extinction.
Dogo Shammah, State Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, stated this in an interview with newsmen on Friday in Lafia.
According to him, the rate at which people are neglecting their mother tongue and adopting foreign languages is disheartening, adding that local languages may go into extinction if urgent steps are not taken.
He noted that Hausa and English languages were taking over local languages, hence the need for all hands to be on deck to rescue the situation.
The commissioner argued that God, who created people with different languages, wanted those languages to be spoken, stressing that nobody should, therefore, think that his own language was inferior to others.
“The ministry had already drafted the bill and submitted it to the ministry of justice for correction and advice.
“As soon as the ministry of justice is through with the correction, we will send it as a bill to the state House of Assembly for passage,’’ the commissioner said.
Shammah also said that the ministry had a lot of plans to roll out towards reviving the culture and traditions of the people of the state.
He said that the ministry would partner with all the ethnic nationalities to organise cultural festival that would give them the opportunity of showcasing their cultural potential.
The commissioner said that the festival would be organised annually in all the 13 local government areas of the state. (NAN)