BY UCHENNA UFOMADU
 |
| One of the abandoned blocks |
One
is amazed at the stagnancy and seeming total neglect of the Nigerian Institute
for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Aba, Abia State.
The institute was set up for the
implementation of the language provisions of the National Policy on Education
(NPE) (1977, revised 1981, 1998, 2004).
It
was also established to serve as a degree awarding inter-university centre
under the control of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The
major objective of the institute is to serve as part of Nigeria’s cultural
heritage and enhance national unity and cohesion. It is designed to help
Nigeria achieve the language objectives of the National Policy on Education by
mass producing quality L2 teachers of various Nigerian Languages.
NINLAN
shares common character and philosophy with other inter-university centres
under the Nigeria Universities Commission(NUC). They include National French
Language Village, Badagry, Lagos; the National Arabic Language Village, Ngala,
Bornu State; the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, FCT and the National
Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Oyo State.
According
to an official document obtained from the institute, it outlines the aims and
objectives of setting up the institute which include among other things:
-
Ability to mount L2 programmes which are
obviously absent from the universities.
-
Ability to produce professional teachers
in Nigerian Languages. It is obvious that most of our universities just produce
linguists without knowledge in how to impart the knowledge in others while
NINLAN will be offering B.A (Ed) Linguistics, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, etc.
-
NINLAN is specialised to run programmes
that can mass-produce teachers of Nigerian Languages in a way that the
universities cannot. Moreso, as the institute’s physical and human resources
are not shared with other disciplines. NINLAN is straightly tailored to produce
language teachers and experts.
-
L1 products of the universities are
neither professional teachers nor groomed to develop and sustain the languages
as they do not want to teach, anyway.
-
L1 products want to teach, if at all,
only, in the areas where their languages are spoken. Therefore, we need
non-Hausas to teach Hausa in non-Hausa areas, Non-Igbos to teach Igbo in
non-Igbo areas, non-Yorubas to teach Yoruba in non-Yoruba areas, non-Efik to
teach Efik in non-Efik areas of the country, etc.
It is worthy of note that NCE L2 products are
not good enough to teach at the secondary school level, hence they need a place
where their knowledge can be upgraded to be better qualified to teach at the
secondary school level. It is only
NINLAN that offers the opportunity for NCE L2 products to raise their
qualification to degree level with both
ease and special touch of expertise. Moreso, as it is currently,
advancement to degree levels for NCE L2 products are blocked since they do not
qualify for the universities’ L1 programmes.
However, a visit to the Institute located in
Aba, Abia State reveals the pitiable State of a cherished institute, trudging
very far behind every other inter-university centre. It is in a shambolic
condition that belittles its status and makes nonsense of the overall guiding
philosophy of establishing the Institute.
The
seeming alarming level of neglect compels one to ask why responsible
authorities and agencies have chosen to neglect such an important and vital
institution.
A
drive into the massive premises reveals a picture of a severely underfunded
institution which exerts excess pressure on its management in a guided bid to
realize set goals. The road which serves
as the entrance and exit point of the Institute is in total bad shape.
No
maintenance work seems to have been done on the road in the last 20 years. The administrative
block of the Institute can hardly accommodate key management officers and
perhaps, merely suitable for a local model primary or secondary school.
Also
within the vast permanent site of NINLAN are about 30 foundations for buildings
that have been abandoned for many years.
These were meant for erecting buildings to serve as lecture halls,
hostels, administrative offices, etc, were inherited from the defunct Federal School
of Arts and Science and were laid about 3 decades ago. There exists only one
medium sized block which provides the lecture halls. There is only one hostel
block which can hardly pass for a secondary school dormitory.
The
sight of such buildings further reinforces the fact the institute is suffering
grave neglect or rather, bitter ethnic politicswhich boarders on its location.
Of course no, plausible reason can be adduced as to why out, of 5
inter-university centres set up almost at the same time, only the one located
in the South East seems to not enjoy generous patronage from the federal
government like the rest four.
The
reality of under-funding thus speaks for itself.Our investigations reveal that
no meaningful attention has been given to this innovative institute since
inception in 1993. The institute is yet to get a take-off grant, more than 23
years after it was established. Other centres with similar aims and objectives
with NINLAN have all got the approved funds and adequatefunding for basic
infrastructure to function effectively over 2 decades after its establishment.
There abound evidences of mindlesspolitics and discriminatory treatment by
policy makers for unexplainable reasons.
Worse
still, policy makers of South East extraction seem to have refused to show
interest in defending the cause of a significant federal government
establishment in their zone, which has a good potential of becoming a full
fledged university, providing jobs to their kins and improving the economic
condition of the area where it is sited.
NINLAN’S
condition is a national embarrassment considering the fact it is a unique
educational establishment designed to restore the nation’s pride as regards our
cherished languages and cultures. Its numerous gains and advantages to the
educational system in the country and Africa far outweighs whatever sentiments by
those who harbor mixed feelings about the Institute.
According
to Prof. Ben Elugbe, NINLAN Executive Director, “The challenge of advocating Nigerian
Languages is best faced by an institute such as NINLAN”.
It
was primarily set up to develop and make Nigeria’s over 400 languages appealing
to the younger generation.
It
is an incontrovertible fact that NINLAN is a great idea and an ideal concept
borne out of the fact that it is invariably hailed by those who hear of it.
Unfortunately, most people also lament the fact that the institute is not well
known because of the prolonged neglect.
According
to research, NINLAN is a world-friendly concept. Experts in the education
sector believe it is an idea UNESCO and other international educational bodies
should applaud. This was why in 2006
when the African Union declared 2006 a year of African Languages, many had
expected then President Umaru Musa Yar’
Adua who was chairman of the AU to upgrade NINLAN for it to be able to
compete with similar institutes in other countries.
The
stagnant state of NINLAN indeed makes nonsense of whatever effort by the
Federal Government to promote Nigerian languages. Its neglect of NINLAN re-echoes the belief
that it takes delight in celebrating foreign languages, cultures and products. This is not only an aberration but puts a
question mark on its much trumpteted plan to revive the education sector in
Nigeria.
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