The Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE) has expressed disapproval of the federal government’s choice to abolish the National Language Policy. They are urging the Minister of Education, Maruf Alausa, to reconsider his stance and reinstate mother tongue as the primary language of instruction in early education.
In a position paper presented to the minister on November 25 and made public to the press on Friday, NAE argued that there is substantial evidence indicating that early education in local languages enhances learning outcomes, fortifies cultural identity, and fosters inclusive national development.
The statement, endorsed by NAE President Emeritus Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede and Secretary General Prof. Chris Chukwurah, characterized the policy reversal as a “serious setback” for Nigeria’s educational advancement.
It cautioned that eliminating mother tongue instruction without thorough assessment equates to “permanent recolonization and the demise of Nigeria’s future and dignity.”
It is important to note that the Federal Government recently annulled the 2022 National Language Policy, declaring English as the exclusive medium of instruction across all educational levels, a stance reiterated by Alausa at the 2025 Language in Education Conference hosted by the British Council in Abuja.
However, NAE contended that research, including historical initiatives like the Ife Six-Year Project and recent bilingual education studies, demonstrates that students who are taught first in their native languages achieve better academic results, even in English, compared to those who are introduced to foreign-language instruction too early.
The Academy criticized the reasoning provided by the minister, asserting that the poor performance in public examinations cannot be blamed on mother tongue instruction, which concludes at primary four.
They stated that there is no empirical evidence to support claims that teaching in indigenous languages has negatively impacted educational outcomes over the past 15 years.
While advocating for the immediate reinstatement of the policy, the Academy…