A Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Ilorin, Aderonke Kofo Soetan, has called on governments and education stakeholders to prioritise the use of mother-tongue instruction and appropriate learning resources as a way of unlocking learners’ full potential in Nigeria.
Prof. Soetan made the call on Thursday while delivering the university’s 295th Inaugural Lecture, titled “Unlocking Learning Potentials: The Right Language and Instructional Resources.”
She argued that effective learning in the 21st century must be learner-centred, stressing that the deliberate selection and use of instructional materials play a critical role in helping students understand concepts, acquire skills and remain engaged in the learning process.
“Teachers must deliberately select and use appropriate instructional resources to awaken learners’ potentials and make learning meaningful, practical and engaging,” she said.
The professor emphasised inclusive education, urging schools to adopt assistive technologies to support learners with special needs. According to her, this would ensure equal access to language learning and instructional resources across the education system.
She also called for increased investment in the development of indigenous instructional materials, noting that collaboration among educational technologists, curriculum developers and language educators is essential to producing culturally relevant resources in local languages.
Such collaboration, she said, would not only enhance learners’ comprehension but also help preserve Nigeria’s linguistic heritage.
Prof. Soetan specifically advocated stronger implementation of mother-tongue instruction at the foundational level of education, in line with the National Policy on Education.
“Government and other stakeholders must ensure the effective implementation of mother-tongue instruction, particularly in Yorùbá, at the early stages of learning, supported with adequate instructional resources,” she said.
She further highlighted the role of modern educational technologies in language teaching, including mobile applications, multimedia tools and interactive boards such as Opón-Ònka and the ÈDÈ App, which she said could improve learner engagement and learning outcomes.
On teacher development, the report called for continuous capacity-building programmes to train educators in the design, improvisation and effective use of instructional materials, especially technology-based and mother-tongue resources. She added that teachers should be encouraged to improvise teaching aids using locally available materials where standard resources are lacking.
Prof. Soetan also recommended the establishment and strengthening of instructional resource centres in schools and higher institutions to enable the production, storage and sharing of teaching materials that support classroom practice.
Beyond the school environment, she stressed the role of parents and communities in early language development, urging greater awareness of the importance of using mother tongues at home to complement classroom learning.
“Parents and communities must be sensitised to the importance of using the mother tongue at home to complement school efforts and ensure cultural continuity,” she said.
She noted that instructional resources help reduce abstraction in learning by turning complex ideas into concrete experiences through field trips, models, pictures, games, simulations, animations and online resources.
The professor concluded by calling for increased research in indigenous language technology, urging scholars to explore artificial intelligence, natural language processing and other digital innovations to document, teach and preserve Nigerian languages, particularly Yorùbá.
According to her, such efforts would position indigenous languages as effective tools for education and national development in an increasingly digital world.
