Indigenous language, solution to illiteracy, says National librarian

The National Librarian, Prof. Chinwe Anuobi, Thursday, endorsed the promotion of indigenous languages as a vehicle for multilingual education and comprehensive national development.

She stated this at an event held in commemoration of International Literacy Day, with the theme titled, “Transforming literacy learning spaces; exploring opportunities and possibilities.”

The event held at Knosk N100 a-day Secondary School, Abuja, was in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development, the National Institute for Nigerian languages, and the Reading Association of Nigeria.

Anuobi said this new approach was imperative due to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation institute of statistics that 775 million people lack basic literacy skills and 20 million children in Nigeria are out of school.

She said, “Literacy, in its simplest sense, is the ability to read and write in any language.

“The seed of lifelong learning and development of a wide horizon is planted in the acquisition of literacy skills, and to ensure inclusion, we need to promote reading and writing, not only in western languages but also in our indigenous languages.

“Recently, we conducted a survey to articulate deposits of indigenous language literature in the national library and the result we got was appalling. We started meeting with publishers and authors to stem the tide and we are making progress,” she added.

Speaking also at the event, the Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Opiah, noted that education remained the best way to end poverty.

“The importance of education can’t be over-emphasised in the world today. If you are not literate, you are inviting poverty, because there will no development and growth without literacy,” he said.