TERSOO TSUMBA
Department of English and Literary Studies,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala.
e-mail: [email protected]
JOSEPHINE OMOKA AMEH
Department of English and Literary Studies,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala.
ABSTRACT
Most indigenous languages in Nigeria are endangered and at different levels of extinction. It is therefore, imperative to further promote and strengthen their usage in contemporary Nigeria, before they are rendered extinct. This is more important in a multi-ethnic nation where indigenous languages can engender national pride, unity and cultural identity. They can also enhance national development and impact positive values in the youth. Successive governments have tried policies to implement compulsorily, the teaching and learning of indigenous languages, but the implementation has not yielded the desired results. Governments do not back up the policies, in the same way as parents do not encourage their children to learn or speak their mother tongues. This paper examines the poor state of usage of Nigerian indigenous languages and does an indept appraisal of the approaches and initiatives of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) to prove that the NICO initiative can strengthen the use of indigenous Nigerian languages.
Keywords: Strengthening language use, NICO, Nigerian language policy, endangered language.