14th November 2025
Educationists and language advocates have faulted the Federal Government’s decision to reverse the 2022 National Language Policy, describing it as a setback to education development, national identity, and cultural preservation.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, had on Wednesday announced that English would now serve as the sole language of instruction in Nigerian schools, from the primary to tertiary level.
Alausa announced the 2025 Language in Education International Conference organised by the British Council in Abuja, arguing that teaching children in their mother tongues had contributed to poor performance in public examinations.
Professor Sikiru Ahmed, a scholar of Physical and Computational Chemistry at Kwara State University, Malete, described the decision as “one of the examples of policy somersaults that have plagued Nigeria’s education system.”
He said, “The national language policy was about enhancing learning by teaching children in a language they understand from a young age. Various research studies have shown that teaching in the local language, alongside English, removes learning barriers.
“There is a popular saying that ‘the gateway to the human heart is his mother tongue.’ If implemented, the policy was capable of fostering national unity and cohesion among different ethnic groups.
Many countries around the world use their local languages to educate their children; the Chinese use Mandarin, Pakistanis use Urdu, Indians use Hindi, and the Basotho use Sesotho. Nigeria should not be an exception.”
Professor Oyesoji Aremu of the Department of Guidance and Counselling at the University of Ibadan said the decision came as a surprise, especially at a time when several countries were adopting mother-tongue instruction in basic education.
He said, “The policy on the use of mother tongue as a mode of instruction in basic education was an outcome of the famous Ife Six-Year Primary Project and later became a Federal Government policy. Ghana just adopted a similar policy a few days ago.
“Although the change was justified by claims that mother-tongue instruction promotes poor academic performance, such a conclusion should have been subjected to empirical scrutiny. Research has shown that pupils taught in their local language perform better, comprehend faster, and can learn other languages easily.
“The Ministry should have also examined the role of English as a language of instruction, mainly in elite schools, before concluding. I believe the government should have engaged educationists and university researchers before making such a sweeping reversal.”
A Lead Resource for Safe Schools Lagos, Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi, said that while the previous policy was well-intentioned, its implementation was fraught with challenges due to Nigeria’s linguistic diversity.
She said, “Research consistently shows that children learn foundational concepts and develop stronger cognitive skills when taught in their first language. However, the policy was difficult to implement because Nigeria has over 600 dialects. There were no trained teachers or adequate instructional materials, and there were complications in choosing which language to adopt in multilingual communities.
The policy may have been abandoned prematurely. Such a reform requires heavy investment in teacher training, the development of textbooks and learning materials, and sufficient time before results can be fairly evaluated.
“While using the mother tongue is vital for preserving indigenous languages and cultural identity, which are at risk of extinction, I think the reversal is pragmatic given the current realities.”
But a youth leader from Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State, Callistus Egwu, criticised the reversal as “a betrayal of Nigeria’s cultural identity” and “an attempt to please Western interests at the expense of national heritage.”
He said, “Our mother tongues define who we are and reflect our traditions. It is disappointing that someone would wake up and cancel such an important policy to satisfy foreign interests. The claim that instruction in local languages causes poor performance is baseless. The real problem lies in poor teacher welfare and inadequate learning facilities.”
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