Osita Chidoka charges Nigerian Youths on embracing indigenous languages

 

A former minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has advised Nigerian youths to strive to understand and effectively communicate in their mother tongues.

Chidoka in a video he posted on his social media handle said poor knowledge of indigenous languages by youths impacts negatively on their worldview and upbringing.

He described as unfortunate the attitude of most parents who don’t teach their children their indigenous languages because of the notion that it was not a global language.

Chidoka said the language was the vehicle through which culture was taught and learned, noting that poor knowledge of it bred identity crisis.

He added that language should be learned through acculturation and not as a conscious academic exercise which could deny the individual of the originality or essence.

“If you as an Igbo person and you don’t understand or speak the language, you are missing a lot because it gives you a whole worldview from a cultural perspective and also saves one from an identity crisis.

“I have told people not to let their dialect hold them down in whichever way they can, let them speak their dialect and also connect with folklores and stories which usually come with loads of lesson,” he said.

Chidoka said adults who did not have the privilege of learning their dialect during upbringing could help themselves through online material as this would help them to understand the philosophy of the language, ways, and norms of their people.