Abia State Governor Alex Otti has advocated the use of indigenous languages as the medium of instruction in early education, arguing that Nigeria can learn from countries such as China and India where mother-tongue education has produced strong educational and developmental outcomes.
Otti made the remarks at the 24th Annual Lecture and Symposium of the Fafunwa Educational Foundation and the 19th Annual Post-Doctoral Awards in Education held at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
The governor said research has consistently shown that children learn better when taught in the language they understand during their formative years, adding that the debate should focus on addressing implementation challenges rather than abandoning the policy altogether.
According to him, concerns surrounding the use of indigenous languages in classrooms are genuine but have been overstated.
“If children and professionals in China suffer no disadvantage from learning in Mandarin, just like their counterparts in India or South Korea who started their learning in indigenous languages, then the fears against the use of indigenous languages for early-stage education in this part of the world may be exaggerated at best,” Otti said.
He urged policymakers to identify practical obstacles—including shortages of teachers fluent in indigenous languages and limited instructional materials—instead of rejecting the approach outright.
Otti also praised the legacy of late education icon Prof. Babatunde Fafunwa, describing the foundation’s annual lecture as an important platform for promoting research-backed educational policies. He noted that Fafunwa’s landmark studies demonstrated that children achieve better learning outcomes when taught in their mother tongue during the early years of schooling.
The governor’s comments come against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s 2025 reversal of the 2022 National Language Policy, which had proposed mother tongue or the language of the immediate community as the medium of instruction through Primary Six. The current policy retains English as the principal language of instruction in schools.
Also speaking at the symposium, University of Ibadan linguist Prof. Francis Egbokhare said Nigeria’s major challenge is not the concept of mother-tongue education but its implementation. He stressed the need for better teacher preparation, quality learning materials and effective assessment systems to make the policy successful.
