by Olugboyega Adebanjo

I doubt if Nigerians (even as undergraduates) can be recruited to teach Americans in any human endeavour other than our languages. This shows the export commodity power of these languages – Hausa and Yoruba — if only we see them as such. 

February 21, the day commemorated worldwide as the International Mother Language Day, provided us with an opportunity to take a critical look at our languages as Nigerians. Because of the second fiddle nature Nigerian languages have assumed in our own society, it is pertinent to ask: Who is Killing Nigerian languages – foreigners or the language owners?

Incidentally, Nigerian languages have enjoyed a wide range of support from the Occident, the US in particular. One such support is from Wycliffe — a US-based organisation — established since 1942 to translate the Bible into every language spoken in the world. Giant strides have been made by the organisation as it has completed 700 translations. Currently, it supports languages spoken in 90 countries, including Nigeria. In keeping with its vision, Wycliffe has deployed human, financial, special-designed software and other resources to build orthographies for hitherto non-written languages, educate native speakers to read and write their languages, build glossaries in these languages while preserving the histories and cultures of language owners etc. Unknown minority languages spoken by 10,000 and 1,000,000 speakers now have written documents; thus, preventing the languages from extinction.

It may interest us to know that, pertaining to Nigeria, some ongoing and finished bible translations which are due to the effort of the Wycliffe teams and native speakers of the languages include: Ezaa, Ikwo and Izii languages of the Abakaliki cluster (spoken in Ebonyi State: Abakaliki, Ezza, Ohaozara, and Ishielu Local Government Areas); and Benue State: Okpokwu Local Government Area),  Alago (a first language spoken in Nasarawa State: Awe and Lafia Local Government Areas), Dadiya (a first language spoken in Gombe State: Balanga Local Government Area; Taraba State: Karim Lamido Local Government Area; and Adamawa State: Numan Local Government Area), Huba (a first language spoken in Adamawa State: Hong, Maiha, Gombi, and Mubi Local Government Areas), Hyam (a first language spoken in Kaduna: Kachia and Jema’s Local Government Areas), Ichen or Etkywan (a first language spoken in Taraba State: Takum, Sardauna, Bali, and part of Wukari Local Government Areas).

Other languages are Irigwe (a first language spoken in Plateau State: Bassa and Barakin Ladi LGAs; and Kaduna State: Saminaka LGA), Jenjo or Dza (a first language spoken in Taraba State: Karim Lamido LGA, and Adamawa State: some areas in Numan LGA),  Lokaa (a first language spoken in Cross River State: Obubra LGA), Maya or Bali (a first language spoken in Adamawa State: some areas in Numan LGA), Mbula or Mbula-bwazza (a first language spoken in Adamawa: Numan, Guyuk, Song, Demsa LGAs), Ninzo (a first language spoken in Kaduna State: Jema’a LGA; Nasarawa State: Akwanga LGA.), Tera (a first language spoken in Gombe State: Yamaltu-Deba LGA; and Borno State: Kwayakusar LGA), Tula (a first language spoken in Gombe State, Kaltungo LGA), and Tyap (a first language spoken in Kaduna State: Kachia, Saminaka, and Jema’a LGAs). Through this effort, these native languages, histories, and cultures are thereby given the much-needed identities and distinctions.

The United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is another occidental organisation that has shown the immense value of our (Nigerian) languages and cultures as export commodities through an initiative known as Foreign Language Teaching Assistant. Through this initiative, on a yearly basis, Hausa and Yoruba native speakers with English, Language Arts or combined honours background (or undergraduates in any of the disciplines) are recruited as teaching assistants to teach their languages and cultures to American students in the US universities and colleges. I challenge anyone to tell me what else we can teach Americans, but our languages? Indeed, I doubt if Nigerians (even as undergraduates) can be recruited to teach Americans in any human endeavour other than our languages. This shows the export commodity power of these languages – Hausa and Yoruba — if only we see them as such. If there are no Nigerian manufactured goods to be exported, and there are no Nigerian innovations to sell to the world, our languages and cultures can be our economic exchange with the Occident and Orient.

Dr. Uwe Seibert of the Department of Languages and Linguistics, University of Jos, in his work, Nigerian Languages Listed according to States — reports that Holma (a language spoken in north of Sorau of Adamawa State); Bete and Fali of Baissa (languages spoken in Takun LGA and Falinga Pleateau region of Taraba State) are dying out. Lere, Shau and Ziriya (languages spoken in Toro LGA of Bauchi State); and Sheni (a language spoken in Saminaka LGA) are near extinction. Ajawa, Gamo-Ningi, Kubi and Mawa (languages once spoken in Bauchi state); and Jigawa State’s Auyokawa and Teshenawa are now extinct. This would be on a geometric progression as postulated by the Endangered Languages Project.

The joint project, which is overseen by Google and other language-oriented partners, projects that “7,000 languages are at the risk of disappearing in the next 100 years.” To avert the further loss of a people and their world, history and cultural heritage, their understanding and testimonial of the world; and the loss of scientific, botanical and medical knowledge – the direct consequences of language extinction – Endangered Languages Project puts up a website with a list of threatened, near extinction and endangered languages, which include Nigerian languages, for native speakers and language savers cum preservers to submit samples of written texts, audio and video files of conversations in these languages to the site as a way of preserving their letters, syllables, words, vocabularies and sentences.

Dozens of Nigerian languages listed on the site are classified as vulnerable, (any language spoken by less than 20,000 speakers); threatened, (a language spoken by less than 10,000 speakers); endangered, (any language spoken by less than 5,000 speakers); and severely endangered, (a language spoken by less than 1,000 speakers). Some of these languages include: Dulbu (a language spoken in southeast of Bauchi LGA of Bauchi State); Hasha (a language spoken in Akwanga LGA of Nasarawa State); Kami (a language spoken in Lapai LGA of Niger State); Kulung (a language spoken in Karim Lamido and Wukari LGAs of Taraba State); Labir (a language spoken in Bauchi and Alkaleri LGAs of Bauchi State); Mak (a language spoken in Karim Lamido LGA of Taraba State); and Shiki (a language spoken in Bauchi LGA of Bauchi State). Dulbu is severely endangered as it had just 100 native speakers as of 1993. Hasha, as of 1999 had 3,000 speakers, but the number of native speakers is currently put at 400. Kami had just 5,000 speakers as of 1992. Kulung and Labir had 15,000 and 13,000 native speakers worldwide as of 1973 and 2006 respectively. Mak is being spoken by 5,690, and Shiki by 1,000 native speakers. The onus is on the linguistic world, linguistic-inclined individuals and native speakers of the languages to take advantage of the window of opportunity offered by endangered languages.com to save minority Nigerian languages from the danger of extinction.

Read this article on The Punch Online.

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Adébánjo is Lead Translator at XML Language Services Ltd., Lagos.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.