Say No To Igbo Extinction is an article penned out of a burning desire to rejuvenate and revitalize an ailing language which a reputable forum somewhere sometime had ordained with the mark of extinction....and which the owners are quite lackadaisical and reluctant to manumit,,,, by digging a grave of rose for ut, even while it still struggles to fend for itself.

By Izunna Okafor


The rate at which some Igbos deny dump and denounce their ‘Igboship’ is
seriously growing out of hand, and thus calling for action. Like nature
made us to know, every tribe has its own culture, origin and tradition
which fundamentally make up the ‘heritage’ of that tribe. Igbo as I believe
is never an exception to that; fully we have our own heritages just like
other tribes. Each aspect of these heritages – tradition, culture and
origin has its own components, which generally include food type, rites,
dressing, house style, norms, values, antiquities, procedures, belief,
language and history among others. These are the things that differentiate
one tribe from the other, with each tribe working harder to uphold, sustain
and preserve her own by practicing, propagating and promoting it. Among all
these, LANGUAGE is the most important aspect of it – the key element. It is
the way without which other ways cannot be followed and the phenomenon
without which the mouths can never liaise. Language is a natural gift from
God, and every tribe has its own, unless the tribe was not created by God.
In similar vein, every tribe loves her own language, speaks, promotes,
propagates, values and cares for it. It is a thing of value, worthy of
sustenance and preservation. However, to us, my fellow Igbos, it's clear
and obvious, that our own Language, IGBO which is our heritage is
drastically dying off and diametrically sinking into abyss. In the lost
days of our fore fathers, they loved, valued, used, cherished and sustained
the language. And they were so proud of it, fully understanding that it was
theirs, only theirs and theirs alone. They never played with it nor
dialogued without it. But today my fellow Igbos, reverse is the case. We no
longer value the language, let alone speaking nor sustaining it. The love
is no more there and the passion is no more there. Everybody now speak
English.

Now is the time when you will hardly see an Igbo 'man' who would
ever accept to speak Igbo with you, to the extent that some even deny being
Igbo nor being brought up in Igbo land. What a piffle! I write this out of
my experiences and encounter so far with my fellow Igbos I approached a
youth who I am sure is a pure Igbo guy, spoke Igbo to him, and he started
replying in English. I went to a shop to buy something, spoke Igbo to the
seller who I know is an Igbo woman, and she started speaking English. I
entered an office of an Igbo 'man', a lecturer to be precise, spoke Igbo to
him; he warned me that I should not try that nonsense again or else I
should get out of his office. I tried it next time; he disgraced me and
walked me out of his office (in front of my fellow students). I spoke Igbo
language to fellow Igbo student; she told me and I quote 'My friend I can't
hear Igbo, if you can't speak English you left me alone' claiming she’s big
girl (with erroneous English). I asked her why, she says and I quote 'I'm
not brought up in Igbo land; I was a Lagos brought up’ (Dropping another
dangerous grammar) I spoke Igbo to her again; she insulted you, hissed and
walked out of me. I our Igbo GS class then, I asked my Igbo teacher
question in Igbo; she started speaking English. I mean an Igbo Teacher. I
spoke Igbo to an Igbo child, her mother told me 'No no no, never you try
that nonsense next time; Don’t you know that I doesn’t speak Igbo to her?
‘Am training her in English. ‘So don’t you ever try that again’ I asked her
why; she carried her baby and walked away. I freely gave one of my Igbo
books to an ‘Igbo’ student to read; he proudly told me 'I can't read Igbo'.
I brought an English and he fluently read it to the end. I spoke my
language (Igbo) in the public and the people there (including my fellow
Igbos) started seeing you as Illiterate. Igbos why? Who bewitched us like
this? And where are we heading to? Why do we hate our own and cherish that
of others? Where is that love that our fore fathers had for our dear
language? It’s a thing of pity! Today, you hardly see an Igbo who can speak
Igbo Language for up to five minutes without any addition English. But that
same can fluently speak other languages from day to day without a single
mix up. Why? Where are we heading to? Is that your father’s language? Is it
high time we understood that our own is our own, developed love for our
own, valued our own and upheld our own?

It has been confirmed that Igbo is
the sweetest language in the world, good to speak and perfect in all. So
why do we abhor it, abandon it and embrace that of others, thereby
suppressing our own, crucifying it and sending it to its earliest grave?
Our fore fathers gave us this language; they did not kill it.

But we, in
our own time now, how are we trying harder to sustain it and pass it over
to our next generation? What do you think will be the state of Igbo
language in next few years to come? The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had in 2012 predicted that
Igbo language will die – go extinct in less than four decades to come. How
hard are you trying to say ‘NO’ to that, as Igbo patriotic that we are?
Parents why don't you give your children Igbo names anymore but English and
sometimes meaningless names? Why are you not speaking Igbo to them anymore
but English? Or do you think he cannot learn English when he grows up? Why
are we all ashamed of our dear language our heritage while others are
seriously speaking and upholding their own, even the highly educated people
among them? Does speaking Igbo make one illiterate at all? Why do you want
the fire that our fore fathers gave to us fade in our own time and die in
our own hand? Would that not be a shameful thing to our tribe? How often do
you speak Igbo in a day? Why don't you preserve and value your own,
constantly make it a daily practice and become an Igbo ambassador wherever
you find yourself? How would you feel when you wake up one day and hear
that Igbo language is no more there (as predicted)? How do you think that
would affect you; detrimentally or beneficially? My dear people, I wish we
would all consider and understand this the way I do. I wish we could all
foresee the impending dooms it may cause us if we still continue to neglect
it. Dear Igbo parents, I plead you should start speaking Igbo to your
children, give them Igbo names, teach them Igbo Language and always make
them appreciate the values of our Igbo culture. Language is part of our
culture. Governments (at all level), help to save our Igbo language, invest
much in sustaining our heritage; instigate or financially help to sponsor
significant Igbo programmes and project which will go a long way in
promoting our indigenous Language; and also Initiate essential policies
that will help buttress this. It should be made ‘a must’ that every Igbo
child, youth or adult who wishes to be registered or accepted in any school
in Igbo land must have an Igbo name, be a fluent Igbo speaker and can write
in Igbo (if grown up), with strict consideration. The same condition and
criterion should apply to all Igbo persons who wish to be given a job,
appointment or receive any other significant benefits from any government
of Igbo land. Furthermore, there should be an Igbo speaking day in all the
offices and institutions within the Igbo land. The language should be made
compulsory in all the schools across the Igbo land, both public and
private. Our Indigenous teachers should always teach with Igbo language and
ensure that anybody freedom to speak Igbo in the class and in the school
any time. This one should be taken more serious because in virtually all
the primary and secondary schools in Igbo land today, they do not speak
Igbo language anymore, except during the Igbo class. And if a student dares
speak it (mistakenly or intentionally), he would get a real flog of his
life. Our teachers are making things worse. Also, we should cultivate the
habit of reading Igbo books and listening to Igbo programmes on radios and
televisions. Igbo language should be the principal language in our church
services. My dear people, these the various possible solutions for reviving
our ailing language. There are some other possible efficacious panaceas and
way-outs, which you as an individual can initiate, agglutinate and put into
practices to save our dear language. Play your own part in saving our dear
language from shame. The future and the survival of it lie in our hand. Be
an IGBO AMBASSADOR wherever you are and develop a strong love for it. Be an
IGBO PATRIOTIC and let others know the importance of what we have. Speak
it, defend it, uphold it, sustain it, and always be proud of it. IGBO BỤ
NKE ANYị IGBO Dị ANYị MMA IGBO Ọ GA-ADịRị ANYị MMA RUO MGBE EBIGHI EBI...
Iseeee. SUBAKWA IGBO.