The National Council on Education’s decision to cancel the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction in basic schools has ignited widespread debate across the country.
The announcement, made at the council’s 69th meeting, did not come as a surprise to many Nigerians who had long predicted challenges in implementing the policy in a diverse nation with over 500 languages.
The council, comprising the Minister of Education, Minister of State for Education, commissioners, permanent secretaries, and directors from all states and the Federal Capital Territory, reviewed the policy amidst concerns about its feasibility.
Representatives from major examination bodies, including JAMB, WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, and NBTE, as well as UNESCO-aligned development partners such as UNDP and GIZ, were also present.
Many stakeholders argued that Nigeria’s heterogeneous nature makes the use of mother tongue impractical in most classrooms. With multilingual communities and mixed-ethnicity schools, achieving uniformity in instructional language remains a major challenge. As a result, sentiments in favour of discontinuation outweighed those who supported its continuation.
However, not everyone agreed with the decision. The Nigerian Academy of Letters, NAL, expressed deep concern over the cancellation, insisting that the issue lies in implementation rather than the policy itself.
In a statement signed by its president, Prof. Andrew Haruna, the academy urged the government to reconsider, stressing that mother-tongue education remains essential to cognitive development.
The roots of the mother-tongue policy date back to pioneering research by the late Prof. Babatunde Fafunwa, a former Minister of Education. Between 1970 and 1978, Fafunwa and his team at the University of Ife conducted a landmark experiment at St. Stephen’s Primary School in Modakeke, using Yoruba as the language of instruction for six years.
The objective was to examine whether indigenous language instruction improved a child’s conceptual understanding and overall learning outcomes. The results were widely celebrated.
The research established that pupils taught in their mother tongue demonstrated clearer comprehension, stronger cultural identity, and better social interaction. Additionally, Fafunwa’s findings suggested that learning English as a separate subject enhanced pupils’ mastery of the language rather than diminishing it.
The project further showed that children taught in their native language gained cognitive advantages, enabling them to grasp scientific, mathematical, and social concepts more quickly. This outcome sparked national and international praise, forming the foundation of Nigeria’s mother-tongue education policy.
Those opposing the policy’s cancellation argue that discarding such an approach undermines decades of research and the cultural value of local languages. They warn that relying solely on English could create barriers for young learners, particularly in rural communities where exposure to English remains minimal.
On the other hand, proponents of the cancellation point to Nigeria’s diverse school environments, where pupils hail from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. They contend that adopting one local language may disadvantage students whose mother tongues differ, potentially fueling exclusion and inequality.
As debates intensify, calls for policy refinement rather than complete abandonment continue to grow. Many education experts believe Nigeria needs a pragmatic model that supports indigenous languages while addressing the realities of multicultural classrooms.
For now, the National Council on Education’s decision stands, but pressure from advocacy groups and linguistic experts may force the government to revisit the issue.
What remains clear is that the question of how best to teach Nigeria’s youngest learners continues to challenge policymakers—reviving a long-standing conversation about language, identity, and educational effectiveness.
