AfriPulse
November 23, (THEWILL) — The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa disclosed recently that English language will henceforth be the language of instruction in Nigerian schools from primary to tertiary levels. This means that the adopted 2022 National Language policy, stating that the language of instruction from early childhood to Primary School should be the mother tongue or language of the immediate community has been discarded for good.
The Federal Government has reversed its 2022 National Language Policy, which stipulated that the language of instruction from early childhood to Primary Six should be the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said English will now be the language of instruction in Nigerian schools from primary through tertiary levels.
Reports say the new policy was approved by the National Council on Education, at its 69th conference held in Akure from November 3 to 7.
But the Minister expatiated on it at the Language in Education International Conference 2025, organised by the British Council last week.
According to him, there is evidence-based, data-driven research by his ministry, to show that the language policy had failed to deliver on its promise.
He said, “We reviewed the data available to us. Is teaching in the mother tongue really working for us? The unanimous outcome of our review, which is evidence-based, data-driven and combined with real-life situations in the geopolitical zones, shows overuse of mother tongue from Primary One to Primary Six and even from JSS One to JSS Three.
“We’ve seen total destruction of Nigeria’s system, where children graduate up to JSS Three or even SS Three without learning anything. They go on to sit national exams—WAEC, JAMB, NECO—and fail.”
There and then, he declared that the National Policy on Language has been cancelled. English is now the language of instruction in our schools, from primary to tertiary levels. As you know, one of the most important and powerful things in education is language. That is how the role of language instruction is going to be developed in all subjects.
According to him, examinations are conducted in English, but in Nigeria where there is language diversity there is need for a unified approach to language instruction.
The major aim of the 2022 National Language Policy was the promotion of indigenous languages and preservation of cultural heritage of the country’s languages.
Now, the real challenges the policy faced, according to reports, included developing teaching materials, training teachers and addressing linguistic diversity. This is what, in our view, should have been the focus of the Minister and the National Council on Education in their Akure meeting where the baby was literally thrown out the window with the bath water.
The research he claimed informed their decision in the face of tests and evidence by global and local agents, such as UNESCO and a foremost Nigerian educationist, Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, an early champion of the use of mother tongue for early child education of the child. According to UNESCO in 2016, “studies indicate that instruction in a student’s native language improves understanding, analytical skills and overall academic achievement. It enriches the learning experience but also promotes environmental stewardship and cultural resilience.”
Prof Fafunwa proved this UNESCO finding through a 1970 experimental programme called the Ife Six-Year Primary Project (SYPP) in 1970, where pupils were taught in their mother tongue, Yoruba.
Indeed, Instructively, Country Director of the British Council, Nigeria, Donna McGowan at the meeting where Dr. Alausa made public the outcome of the Akure National Council on Education decision disclosed that the conference brought “together policymakers, educators, researchers, and partners from across Africa, South Asia, and the UK to explore how language can support inclusion and improve learning outcomes across education systems.
What they, the Minister and the Country Director, failed to disclose at that meeting was that many of the stakeholders came from countries where use of mother tongue in their educational system is serious business.
Available data shows that, for instance, 54 percent of African countries are adopting their mother tongue as a medium of instruction in their educational systems. These countries include countries that are as diverse as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Madagascar, Lesotho, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Senegal.
In these countries, there is growing recognition of the importance of mother tongue education in promoting educational equity and social justice as well as promoting multilingualism and cultural awareness. Just like in Nigeria, these countries are facing similar challenges that deal with teaching materials, training teachers, and addressing linguistic diversity.
The huge difference is that whereas these countries have recognised the value of their languages and braced the odds to promote the use of mother tongue in early childhood development, Nigeria had chosen the easy way out and chose a language, a colonial tool, that drains her people of their cultural identity and educational equity.
This is unfortunate and we dare say a major setback for future development of Nigeria and Nigerians.
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