By Joshua Ocheja
Last week, I attended the book launch of renowned author and writer, Professor Tunde Olusunle. He launched two books. One of them is *Oriṣiriṣi: Vistas on contemporary politics in Nigeria.* In the book, the author noted how “Nigeria’s political class has perfected the art of recycling mediocrity,” One of the highlights of the book is “leadership ineptness”. I can bet that if the author had delayed the book launch, he would have added the proposed *Bola Ahmed Tinubu Federal University of Nigerian Languages* to the list of Oriṣiriṣi!
What God cannot do, does not exist. A bill seeking to establish the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Federal University of Nigerian Languages has passed its first reading in the House of Representatives. For the first time, Nigerian languages will be taught in a specialised university. The reason is simple. Nigerian languages are well sought after around the world, including my native *Igala* language in Kogi State. I am also glad because the *Ngas* language in Plateau State would also gain prominence and my wife would be happy. I can’t thank Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives enough for sponsoring such an important bill in the country’s legislative annals.
From what I gathered, the school would be located in Aba, in Abia state, and aims to “promote the study and use of Nigerian languages and culture for national development.” The institution will offer academic and professional programmes, including diplomas, degrees, and postgraduate research with a focus on Nigerian languages and cultures. It aims to “produce socially mature persons with the capacity to communicate, understand, and use Nigerian languages for national development”. We indeed have great thinkers in the country.
The last time I checked, there are *62 federal universities in Nigeria.* This almost works out at two federal universities per state in the nation’s 36 state structure. This number is too low for Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu and his co-sponsors. They want it to be at par with state universities across the country and for the larger population to be “socially mature to communicate, understand and use the Nigerian languages for national development.” This is good because the only problem they have identified is that Nigerians are not socially mature in the use of national languages, and it has hindered sustainable growth and development in the country.
Let me put it simply. The sponsors of this bill need to be chaperoned to Eagle Square in the “three arms zone” in Abuja and thoroughly flogged. The consultants who developed the concept notes should be conscripted into the Nigerian Army and deployed to the theatre of counter-insurgency operations in the North East. Let them use their conceptual “ingenuity” for the benefit of the country up there. This is what they have reduced the country to. It might be a political strategy as the proposed university would be cited in Aba, a city that is known for commerce and industry. However, what I know is that there is a *National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN),* also in Aba, Abia State. According to relevant information, “NINLAN is an Inter-University Centre for Nigerian Language Studies, under the regulation of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Aba and established in 1993 as the apex institution for research, teaching, documentation, and coordination of studies in Nigerian languages.”
NINLAN’s mission is “to have accurate documentation of all Nigerian languages and develop standard orthographies for them by the year 2025, promote the study and use of Nigerian languages and to be the apex world-class centre for teaching, learning, and research into Nigerian languages, leading ultimately to a linguistic foundation for national unity, industrialization and socio-economic growth.” What I do not know is whether the plan is to change NINLAN to Bola Ahmed Federal University of Nigerian Languages. More so, NINLAN is a Federal Government tertiary institution and a unique and specialized tertiary educational Institution that runs a range of programmes. For example, the Institute currently runs three academic programmes. Its National Certificate of Education (NCE) programme is a combined honours programme in a Nigerian language and any other subject.
The Nigerian Language options include Efik, Fulfulde, Hausa, Ibibio, Igbo, Kanuri, Tiv, Urhobo and Yoruba. The Institute runs a Sub-Degree/Diploma Programme in Nigerian Languages, Communication Studies, Education, Linguistics, Library and Information Science, Translation Studies, and French, leading to the award of Diploma. It also runs Postgraduate diploma courses in Education (PGDE), Linguistics (PGDL), Translation Studies (PGDTS), Library and Information Science (PGDLIS), Communication Studies (PGDCOM); and a 12-month Graduate Conversion Programme for Graduates of disciplines other than Nigerian Languages.
Now here is the main gist. In August 2024, the federal government approved the upgrade of the National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN) into a degree-awarding institution to offer full-time degree programs in a range of disciplines that includes Bachelor’s degrees in Early Education, Business Education, Library and Information Science, Igbo and Community Studies, Igbo Language, Linguistics, and Mass Communication. Starting from the 2024/2025 academic session, NINLAN will deliver these courses in affiliation with Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
In the light of the above revelation, I do not know what Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu is up to with the quest to establish a Bola Ahmed Tinubu Federal University of Nigerian Languages in Aba again. Is it to rival the National Institute for Nigerian Languages? Because his proposal is a very obvious duplication. Maybe he wants to add to the list of federal universities in his home state as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. Maybe he wants to position himself for relevance in the political hierarchy of the state and the country. And the choice of name for the proposed institution is indicative. These are my assumptions and I stand to be corrected. Did I remind us that Nigerian language are thought in most conventional Nigerian universities? Have we forgotten the long existing *Institute for African Studies* at the University of Ibadan which is a repository of various Nigerian cultures?
However, I have a suggestion to help the bill scale second reading. The proposed university should be sited in the federal capital territory and with campuses in all states in the federation because the objective is to “promote the study and use of Nigerian languages and culture for national development.”. Please don’t get me wrong. I am excited because I am *Igala* and the *Igala* language would be studied across the country too. The “ingenuity” of Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu and the co-sponsors of the bill must be commended and appreciated. This is another *Oriṣiriṣi.*
Ocheja, a military historian and doctoral researcher, is an alumnus of the Nigerian Defence Academy
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