Resurrecting our identity: Igbo Amaka.

After listening to the lecture given during the annual Odenigbo lecture held at Maria Assumpta Cathedral, Owerri, a lecture initiated by Most Revd. A. J. V. Obinna, the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese, i couldn't help but feel ashamed for Ndi Igbo. We are at the verge of driving our language to extinction.
We live in an era where it is termed ''igbotic'' to speak our language in a gathering of young adults. I begin to wonder if we are supposed to be ''yorubatic'' or ''hausatic'', or is it ''englishtic''.

This is where I admire our Hausa and Yoruba brothers and sisters. It is rare to find them speaking any language other than theirs to themselves. An Ada-igbo once wrote about her Nysc experience, "When I went for my National Youth service. In my room, we had 9 yoruba girls and 3 Igbo girls. These yoruba girls were truly what we call ‘babes’ but they always spoke their language to each other, not minding who was in the room. Meanwhile I and my two Igbo sisters were speaking English to ourselves. When we realized how foolish we were, we decided to start speaking our language, when those Yoruba girls noticed they were surprised."

Nowadays, You see a young Igbo mother who brings her children to the village for the christmas celebrations/holidays and she is proud to tell the elders in her family that her children can't speak Igbo language. To her, its a great achievement. Mothers think that by bringing up their children with english language, it makes them smarter and "ajebo".

You'll see a mother visiting a brother in the village and she tells her son: ''Junior, greet uncle''. What happened to ''Nna, kele dede gi''. Is this supposed to be an evolution? Or do we feel our language is inferior to others??

It has even become more alarming that Igbo Language teachers use English language as their language of instruction. You see them pointing a picture of a dog and asking their students: ''What is this? This is called nkita''.

Again, i often wonder why it is compulsory to make our papers in Mathematics and English Language before one can gain entrance into a tertiary institution.
Does it mean our language is not important? Why don't we include our indigenous languages too. I mean, make it compulsory for an Igbo student to pass Maths, Igbo and English or for a yoruba student to pass Maths,Yoruba and English Language.

Isn't it funny that graduates and even post graduates who studied Igbo language in universities write their projects and thesis in English language. At the end of the day, they are awarded with B.a., M.a., and Ph.D in Igbo language, yet their work was done in English Language. Meanwhile French graduates, whether B.a., M.a., or Ph.D have their projects and thesis all written in the french language.

For those who school abroad in countries like France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, etc, are they not given an extra year to learn the countries’ languages? If they can promote their language, then why can’t we do same?

Take this scenario; a discussion between two Igbos, a painter and a house owner.

Painter: Kedu the type of colour i ga alike ka ejiri paintieregi your new house? (what is the colour you want for your new house).

House Owner: To be frank with you, e decidebeghi m, but alikeri m brown na
green very much. (Frankly, am still indecisive, but i like green and brown colours).

Painter: Biko, achoro m the best for this house. What of e use kwanu yellow na outside na light blue n’ime? (I want the best for this house. Let's try yellow for the exterior, and light blue for the interior).

House owner: E meanili ya. Odikwa good but nyekwua m sometime, ka m think kwue over it, wee discuss kwue ya with my wife. (Really? It is good; give me time to ponder and discuss with my wife).

Please what is this? Is this suppose to be Igbo or English or what we commonly know as Engligbo?

Even our children in nursery schools are not exposed to our
language. You see them learning rhymes like:

Twinkle twinkle Little Star,
London Bridge is falling down,
falling down.

What of our Nigerian bridge at Onitsha? Why are they not taught this instead?:

(sings with london bridge tune)
Akwammiri nke Naija,
ebuka,amaka
Akwammiri nke Naija,di n’ala Igbo.
O sikwara n’Onisha,
wee gawa Asaba
Wee jikota umunnem n’ala Igbo.

What about teaching them,
"Kpukpu mkpu ogene,
Onye enekwana anya n'azu" etc.

Have we observed that in DSTV, there are African magic yoruba and African Magic Hausa channels. Does it mean we no longer have enough Igbo movies to create a channel that is dedicated to just Igbo films? I’m sure that if and when they are produced, most Igbos won’t even like to watch them, they will prefer yoruba films like "Jenifa" to ours. Who remembers those good old days of ‘’living in bondage’’, one of the best Nollywood movies ever to be produced was purely in Igbo
language.

What is more annoying is how we laugh whenever another makes a grammatical blunder in a language that is not his. I remember this story told by my sister, while in the university, she had a lecturer from Poland, who was in the habit of making little blunders in English language, but they were always quick to forgive her saying ’’Its not her fault, She’s not an English woman’’.

What about us? Are we English men or women? Why can’t we be that kind in forgiveness to ourselves?
The mothers and fathers amongst us should please teach their children our Igbo language. We also need to carry out an igbo awareness campaign. Please let's join hands to save our language.

I'm sincerely sorry for writing this essay in english Language and not
IGBO because that makes me guilty as well, but its just to help pass the
message across.

IGBO KWENU! IGBO KWENU!! IGBO KWEZUONU!!!
LONG LIVE THE IGBO PEOPLE.

An essay by Nwachukwu Ikechukwu. Writer and Model. His pix below.

Edited by Vivien Chime.