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The Federal Government has reversed the 2022 National Language Policy, which makes the use of indigenous languages as the medium of instruction in the early years of schooling in Nigerian schools instead of English. Consequently, the government has reinstated English as the primary language of teaching and learning from pre-primary to tertiary levels.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during the 2025 Language in Education International Conference, facilitated by the British Council, in Abuja. He also explained that the reversal was approved at the 69th meeting of the National Council on Education (NCE) held in Akure, Ondo State, between November 3 and 7. The minister observed that the policy had failed to achieve its goals, citing data showing widespread underperformance in regions, where the mother tongue approach was extensively applied.
According to Alausa, “We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country, and those are the ones that adopted the mother tongue in an oversubscribed manner. This is about evidence-based governance. English now stands as the medium of instruction from pre-primary to tertiary education.’ The minister further said, for over 15 years, the use of indigenous languages in classrooms had literally destroyed education in these regions.
He stressed that a national performance review showed that pupils taught mainly in local languages recorded higher failure rates in national examinations and demonstrated weaker English proficiency, which is needed for academic and professional advancement. Thus, “the national policy on language has been cancelled. English now stands as the medium of instruction across all levels of education in Nigeria.”
The reversed National Language Policy was introduced in 2022. It stipulated that children from Early Childhood Education to Primary Six be taught in their mother tongue or the language of their immediate environment. It was intended to strengthen indigenous languages, foster national identity, and improve comprehension at the foundational level. However, the education minister has challenged scholars and stakeholders with contrary evidence to present verifiable data. He said that the government was open to dialogue based on research and measurable outcomes.
The language policy flip-flop is retrogressive, needless and unacceptable at a time the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has called for multilingual education. According to UNESCO, ‘multilingual education fosters inclusive societies, where the rights of all individuals are guaranteed, and it is also a pillar for preserving non-dominant, minority, and indigenous languages. The reversal of mother tongue education will lead language endangerment and extinction of the nation’s indigenous languages. In the same vein, the UNESCO Representative in Mexico, Andres Morales opined that ‘when a language disappears, a worldview, a way of seeing life, and an identity disappear.’
Similarly, the Nigerian Academy of Letters has urged the federal government to have a rethink on the cancellation of teaching in mother tongues. NAL reminded the minister that the National Language Policy was established to promote mother-tongue-based multilingual education, ensuring that children receive instruction in the language of their immediate environment during their first six years of schooling. NAL said also that the policy was the product of years of rigorous research, extensive consultation, and expert input from scholars, educators, and communities across the country. NAL also said that ‘to dismiss it so glibly, without due regard for expert knowledge and public opinion, is utterly scornful of Nigerians and does not speak well of the government’s respect for evidence-based policymaking.’
The ministry of education was hasty in using the lapses recorded in certain regions as a yardstick to determine the failure or otherwise of the 2022 language policy. Teaching students in indigenous languages ought not to have affected the performance of students in the English language. We believe that reversing the mother tongue policy at this period is a disservice to education. We recall that Prof. Babs Fafunwa’s Six-Year Ife Primary Education Study provided the empirical foundation for mother tongue education, a model that has been replicated all over the world.
Scrapping mother tongue education cannot improve the English proficiency of second language learners. In fact, having knowledge of the mother tongue will indeed enhance their cognitive development in English and other subjects. Also, skills and concepts gained in the learner’s mother tongue would help the child in learning a second language. The federal ministry of education should not hasten the death of Nigerian indigenous languages.
We advocate that teaching in local languages should continue in the child’s early years of education. The shortcomings of its application in certain regions should be holistically addressed. The policy reversal is not good for our diversity, cultural identity and national cohesion. The government should not trifle with the learning and teaching of the nation’s indigenous languages. For the survival and growth of these languages, we urge the federal government to urgently rescind the new unpopular language policy.
