Cyriacus Nnaji
Dr. Ebele Okafor, a Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics, Africa and Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, has called for collaboration among the Igbos to save their language from extinction.
Dr Okafor spoke at the End of Year Party/Fundraising ceremony of Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), a group established for the promotion of Igbo language and culture, which took place at PEFTI Event Centre, Ajao Estate, Lagos State, on Sunday, December 17, 2023. She expressed gladness over the actives of IWA.
She disclosed how the cord of collaboration between her and IWA started. “They came to me with the project that something needed to be done to save the Igbo language from extinction. They also averred that children of Igbo extraction cannot speak their mother tongue, and that something must be done to stop the language from becoming extinct; and I was very happy to hear that. This is the reason I joined them to promote and sustain Igbo language.”
She decried the steady decline in the number of those who apply to be admitted into the department of Igbo language. “Looking at it, those studying Igbo language in the university are no long many, the number keeps reducing on yearly basis. Those studying the language, they don’t even speak the language, so what we do is to teach in both English and Igbo in order for them to understand what they are taught. Some of them would tell you they don’t understand what you are saying. Of course many of them did not apply for Igbo language in their JAMB examination, those that study it, are basically those that were unable to get admitted via their choice courses like Medicine, Accounting, Law, but because they wanted to go to school and because they bear Igbo names, they are offered Igbo language, and because we don’t receive applications, we no longer pay attention to cut off mark, so that is how we get candidates to study Igbo language in UNILAG, and when they come and we speak Igbo, they would be moping because they don’t speak the language.”
According to Dr. Okafor, the students are first positioned psychologically to understand that the fact that they are studying Igbo language does not make them lesser human beings. “Now before we start lecturing them, first of all, we tell them that studying Igbo language does not make you a lesser person, it doesn’t show you are not intelligent, it is just that you were unlucky to get your choice course, pay attention and learn because the language is good, it would take you to anywhere you want to go or do.
“So we start from the basics, the Igbo Alphabets: a b chi di; otu, abuo, ato, ano, etc. We teach them where they come from, we teach them Igbo culture, like marriage, burial, breaking of kolanut, chieftaincy matters, and, in fact, when we teach them, you can see their faces blossom with joy and excitement, especially when we talk about Igbo families. They feel free to talk about their families. It gives them joy. But when it comes to reading of books written in Igbo language, it becomes difficult. What we do is to let the read paragraphs; another would read another paragraph; that is what we do until they understand that paragraph. That is how we battle it. However, many of them, when they complete the first year, they leave; they sit for another JAMB and go for their courses of choice. It is just a few that sit back and complete their course, that is how it is, in a year we graduate about five or seven students, but as it is today, we don’t have any person studying Igbo language in the University of Lagos.”
Speaking on the opportunities available for graduates of Igbo language, she said “A graduate of Igbo language has so many opportunities like human relations, when you see you fellow Igbo person, you recognise him or her as your person, it is security, when you are among strangers and you want to discuss with your brother privately, language would enable you hide secret from outsiders, but if you don’t speak Igbo, it becomes a very big challenge. When you speak English everybody would understand what you are saying. It is self-preservation and self-security. When you study Igbo you can get job as an interpreter, translator; the Nigerian Constitution, we translated it into Igbo language, Microsoft, we did same, Chinese film we translate it into Igbo language. Many documents, written in other languages, we handle them and translate them into Igbo language. Those of them that work as interpreters to foreigners, they are paid in dollars, pounds; they return to thank us that they didn’t know there are opportunities like that.
“Many work in the banks, oil companies. The in-thing now is in service training, because that you studied Igbo language doesn’t mean you don’t have brain, if you pay attention and complete your programme in Igbo language, there is nothing in this world that you cannot do. One, Igbo would make you to be humble, you are painstaking in everything you do, if you study the language you can become a lecturer, a teacher of the language, because as some people are going there is need for others to replace them, those that teach in the university are those that studied the language, I studied Igbo in the university, up to PhD. There were a lot of them that taught me and they have all left, I am there now, and one day I will leave, so we also employ our students to also teach the new ones.”
Dr Okafor spoke further on opportunities awaiting those who studied Igbo language. “If fact many work in radio houses, Television, media, a lot of them and they are doing well. We relate with our graduates and they tell us they are making money in their chosen fields. With Igbo language your employment is guaranteed. In foreign countries Igbo is being taught in their schools, there is opportunity in Michigan State University, another is Chi University in US; it is solely designed for Igbo language, established by an Igbo woman. Igbo is taught in China, Oxford, Harvard, the language that is said to be going extinct other climes want to learn it. So a lot of opportunities abound when you study Igbo language. People should enroll for the language, we have those that do Igbo under Sandwich, Lecturers teaching other courses, they come and we teach them Igbo language, some come for evening programme, there are businessmen, they come and undergo Igbo language programme. I taught somebody under Sandwich and today he is teaching in Open University. He was teaching in secondary school and then underwent the Sandwich programmee, First degree, Master, and then PhD; now he is fulfilled that he pursued such a course. So we are calling on everybody, young, old, man, woman to play a role in the promotion and sustenance of the language, but the most important is for our parents to speak the language for their children so that they can develop interest to study the language especially studying it in the university.”
She decried a situation in which parents refuse to pay their children’s school fees solely because their children chose to study Igbo language. “Many of the students studying Igbo language pay their school fees by themselves because their parents don’t want them to study the language, especially the fathers, they deny them financial support to undergo the programme. Many of them beg us for school fees, so it is part of what we are doing today, for our people to come to our aid, any child that wants to study, let our people grant them scholarships; they should also support the teachers.
