The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, explained in a press conference, the day before, that English is the official language of the country and all educational institutions use it, but local languages will take center stage so that students will learn better with their dialects.

He acknowledged that implementing the new policy would be challenging and ‘it would require a lot of work to develop teaching materials and get teachers’ because the number of identified languages amount to more than 600 within an estimated population of 211.4 million as of 2021.

We have 625 languages at the last count and the objective of this policy is to promote and enhance the cultivation and use of all Nigerian languages,’ Adamu emphasized without specifying the date of the policy’s implementation.

Nigeria’s official language is English, as it is a former British colony. Its main indigenous languages are Hausa, Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba.

jrr/arm/mem/nmr