As a medical doctor, Dr Tunji Alausa, must know better than most the costly damages of wrong diagnosis. It could and often do lead to death.
It is quite unfortunate that our beloved country has mastered the art of taken a step forward, and several steps backward, yet we desire progress. The recent announcement by Alausa that the federal government has overturned its 2022 National Language Policy concerning the use of mother tongue as the language of instruction in schools from early childhood to Primary Six was so Nigerian – policy flipflopping backed by zero evidence. Rather than seek to fix a problem, the ready recourse is to go for the easy fix to throw it away, which is no fix at all. Dr Alausa announced this reversal at the Language in Education International Conference 2025 organised by the British Council.
When I first saw the news report in a blog, I immediately concluded it was fake news. But to be sure, I searched further and saw that it was widely reported by reputable media platforms, including Businessday, The Punch, The Guardian, BBC, and many others.
What the minister said
For perspective, it is worth repeating some of the minister’s statements, as reported.
The National Policy on Language has been cancelled. English is now the language of instruction in our schools, from primary to tertiary levels. As you know, one of the most important and powerful things in education is language. That’s how the role of language instruction is going to be developed in all subjects.
The language policy in Nigeria states that mother tongue will be used in the early stage of primary school, Primary One. But we’ve seen significant over-supervision into geopolitical zones of the country, and no use of that policy in other zones.
We reviewed the data available to us. Is teaching in the mother tongue really working for us? The unanimous outcome of our review, which is evidence-based, data-driven, and combined with real-life situations in the geopolitical zones, shows overuse of mother tongue from Primary One to Primary Six, and even from JSS One to JSS Three.
We’ve seen total destruction of Nigeria’s system, where children graduate up to JSS Three or even SS Three without learning anything. They go on to sit national exams—WAEC, JAMB, NECO—and fail. Exams are conducted in English, but we taught these kids through their mother tongue. In Borno State, the mother tongue is Hausa, but many speak Kanuri. In Lagos, areas like Ajegunle have predominantly southeastern populations, but 90% of teachers are from the southwest. This diversity requires a unified approach to language instruction. Over the years, mother tongues have been used to teach, and this has largely been responsible for the failures recorded in exams.
The above statements are the direct words used by the minister.
Government’s evidence versus global evidence
I still find it strange that an education minister will utter these words. Now let us examine the statements by Alausa and the pigheadedness of the government.
First, in one report, the minister was quoted as saying the mother tongue policy had run for 15 years without impact. The question one then asks is why was the policy retained in the 2022 National Language Policy – the revised policy is just three years old. If the government knew the policy was ineffective why incorporate it three years ago?
The minister needs to show us the evidence he claimed backed up the new government thinking. It would be interesting to examine such evidence because educators, policymakers, and language experts across the world have thoroughly examined the issue of mother tongue in learning and education and all come to the conclusion that mother tongue is highly beneficial to proper learning and quality education. And there are empirical evidence to back up their conclusion.
Let us start with the British Council’s – sponsors of the event where the minister poo-pooed our languages – own conclusion concerning mother tongue and quality education. On its official website britishcouncil.org.ng, the Council published the result of a research on mother tongue in education in Africa and elsewhere. This is a direct quote from the report: “Research carried out in African and non-African contexts has clearly shown that children learn best in a language they understand and speak fluently. Learning in such a language environment carries significant cognitive, socio-emotional and cultural benefits.” A professor of English language and Linguistics Angelina Kioko, writing in the same britishcouncil.org.ng, said: “Research findings consistently show that learners benefit from using their home language in education in early grade years (ahead of a late primary transition stage). Yet, many developing countries continue to use other languages for teaching in their schools.”
UNESCO continues to be a strong advocate of multilingual education “based on the mother tongue from the earliest years of schooling.” According to UNESCO, “Research shows that education in the mother tongue is a key factor for inclusion and quality learning, and it also improves learning outcomes and academic performance. This is crucial, especially in primary school to avoid knowledge gaps and increase the speed of learning and comprehension.” The UNESCO research is particularly important in this contest as it contradicts the minister’s claim. Alausa claimed that mother tongue usage in early schooling in the country has “largely been responsible for the failures recorded in national exams like WAEC, JAMB, NECO. The World Bank, UNICEF, and many international and regional bodies have similar conclusions when it comes to mother tongue usage in early education – it is highly beneficial and leads to better assimilation and quality of education. Thus, the Nigerian government’s contrary conclusion – if there was ever any evidence as claimed by the minister – deserve proper scrutiny.
A strange and ironic embrace
The participants at the Language in Education International Conference 2025, many of whom have successfully integrated the mother tongue policy in their countries, and the people from the British Council must have exchanged meaningful sideways glances when the minister announced the policy reversal. Those participants must wonder at how a country like Nigeria with such rich cultural heritage could so gleefully embrace another man’s language while relegating its own.
Contrary to the minister’s claims, mother tongue in early schooling has several benefits and ultimately lead to quality education. Empirical evidence from Finland, China, Cameroon, Mali, Senegal India, the Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam, and even Nigeria has shown this. Some of the benefits, backed up by empirical evidence, include: “Children taught to read in their home language reach literacy milestones faster,” UNESCO found; “Parents can understand school materials and support learning when the language matches the home language,” UNICEF showed; “Reduces the disadvantage faced by children from non-elite, non-official-language homes,” the World Bank highlighted. Also, mother tongue leads to “cognitive and literacy skills transfer, making second-language learning more effective.”
The Professor Bab Fafunwa landmark study
Empirical evidence from Nigeria showed that mother tongue as the language of instruction in early schooling is highly beneficial. The late Education Minister, Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, and a team of educators and linguistic experts undertook a landmark study in Ile-Ife, in present day Osun State, to determine this. The research had two sets of school children. One group was taught all subjects using their mother tongue from Primary One to Primary Six; the other group was taught all subjects using English language as the medium of instruction. Both groups sat for the school leaving examination and the results were instructive. The mother tongue group outperformed the English group in the exam. Also, the mother tongue group had fewer cases of drop outs.
Government needs to look in the mirror
The question to then ask is if the mother tongue is working in other climes and has worked in Nigeria as shown by the Fafunwa study, why is it now a poor policy necessitating cancellation. The answer is obvious: Poor planning and weak implementation. These two are outcomes of chronic underfunding of education by the government. Successive Nigerian governments have paid scant attention to education and education planning. Budgetary allocation to the education sector remains well below the recommended 20% by UNESCO.
In fact, allocation to education in the country continues to be single digit or at best 10% of the budget. Challenges such as dearth of quality educators, poor-quality instructional materials, outdated curriculum, weak governance, poorly motivated teachers, and dilapidated education facilities are a direct result of poor funding. Then if we throw into the mix economic challenges, widespread corruption, and policy confusion, it becomes clear that the problem is not the mother tongue as the minister would have us believe.
Somebody should please tell the minister that the new policy is an effective way to kill the country’s languages, and by extension its rich and diverse cultural heritage. Diaspora Nigerians are spending million of dollars to train their children born in foreign lands their languages as a way to preserve their culture and rich heritage. The current government’s stand on mother tongue in education may destroy these efforts. Mr minister, your diagnosis is wrong and the prescription may lead to the death of our languages and culture.
