The Federal Government has clarified that indigenous languages have not been banned in Nigerian schools, but their use as the main medium of instruction will be limited to ensure students are prepared for national exams conducted in English.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, explained that the policy adjustment aims to address the challenges of implementing the previous policy, which mandated the use of indigenous languages as the primary medium of instruction. “We’ve not banned the use of indigenous language in school. What we’ve done is a SWOT analysis of what’s happening,” Alausa said in an interview with ARISE News.
Alausa noted that while mother tongue instruction has benefits, its implementation has been inconsistent across regions, with some areas over-implementing the policy. “The Southwest, Southeast, and South-South did not implement it. North-Central did not implement it. We had Northwest and Northeast implementing it, but it was over-implemented,” he said.
The minister emphasized that students will still take one native language as part of their subjects in primary school, junior secondary school, and senior secondary school. “We’re proud of our languages,” Alausa added.
The clarification follows the Federal Government’s November 2025 decision to scrap the national policy mandating the use of indigenous languages as the main medium of instruction, which drew reactions from stakeholders. Educationist Anthony Otaigbe described the move as “a step backwards for Nigeria’s education system”.
The Bible Society of Nigeria also urged the government to reconsider, warning that some languages had gone into extinction due to lack of active usage. Alausa explained that the policy was originally meant for Primary One to Primary Three, after which instruction should switch to English.
Analysis of literacy and numeracy rates showed regions that over-implemented the policy were lagging behind compared to regions that did not implement it. “What we now said is that we’ll go back to English as the language of instruction to ensure standardization and train our kids to be globally competitive,” Alausa said.
