Igbo Group Shows Displeasure Over Yoruba Language Teaching In Public Schools, Lagos
Igbo Women Assembly (IWA)
Igbo Group Shows Displeasure Over Yoruba Language Teaching In Public Schools, Lagos
• They demand the major ethinic groups be represented adequately.
The Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), a pressure group has criticised the Lagos State government over the mandatory teaching of only Yoruba language in public schools.
This is as the group vowed to drag the the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu to court over the decision.
IWA national president Nneka Chimezie disclosed this at a news briefing in Umuahia on Thursday.
IWA is affiliated with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an apex Igbo socio-cultural organization.
Ms Chimezie said the group was worried over such legislation in a cosmopolitan state as Lagos.
According to her, such a law is improper because the government knows Lagos harbors many other tribes.
“They should make it open: Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba – should be taught,” she said.
The IWA president, however, hailed the Yoruba for preserving their language.
She called on the Igbo sons and daughters to join IWA in the campaign to stop the Igbo language from going into extinction.
She said the group would organize an event to celebrate the Igbo Language on February 21 to commemorate the United Nation’s Mother Tongue Day.
Ms Chimezie said the event, which would be held in Umuahia, would bring together many prominent sons and daughters of Igboland to discuss the way forward for the language.
“We are coming together to talk about our language, rub minds to see how we can stop our language from going into extinction.
“We are going to have a roundtable, after which we will come up with a communique,” the IWA president said.
She called on Governor Charles Soludo to checkmate the activities of Agunechemba – a vigilance group and stop the extra-judicial killings in Anambra.
“When they make arrests, they should hand the suspects over to the police for proper investigation and prosecution rather than killing them.
“Agunechemba has no right to arrest and kill, and there have been too much blood-letting and killing of our youths in the South-East,” Ms Chimezie said.
(NAN)
