The Head of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) State Office, Minna, Niger State, has identified westernization and neo-colonization as factors responsible for the extinction of our indigenous languages in Nigeria.
She disclosed this while declaring open the 4th edition of the Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) organized by the Institute in Minna, saying NICO’s language programme aims at resuscitating and promoting ailing indigenous languages in Nigeria.
Ndukwe, who stressed the importance of indigenous languages in national integration and development, regretted the fact that indigenous languages are going into extinction and charged participants as well as parents to play a vital role in reviving the use of our local languages even as she urged them to take their participation seriously.
While highlighting the Institute’s other programmes, the NICO Minna State Head called on all Nigerians to support the Institute’s effort in preserving and promoting Nigerian indigenous Languages.
Commending NICO on her relentless efforts towards reviving the use of indigenous languages in the country, a participant from the Niger State Council for Arts and Culture, Mrs. Mary Mamman, said NICO’s indigenous language initiative is not only a bold step but fundamental to national integration and development.
While stating that NICO’s presen
This year, languages taught at the ongoing one-month-long Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) in at the NICO State office in Minna, Niger State, include, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Gbagyi and Nupe.ce in Niger State has done a lot in bringing culture and tourism development into limelight, Mamman gave the assurance that the Niger State Council for Arts and Culture will, apart from fully participating in the language programme, be glad to identify with the Institute in its subsequent programmes.
Goshue Gabriel Kubaks
NICO Minna Niger State
Corporate Affairs