The Nasarawa State government has disclosed that it was working on a bill for a law that will compel parents and guardians of the state to use mother tongue when communicating with their children.
The state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dogo Shammah, stated this when speaking to journalists in commemoration of this year’s UNESCO ‘Use of Mother Tongue Day’ celebration.
According to him, “We have discovered that mother tongue is going into extinction because of the borrowed languages which have overtaken those mother tongues in the state.”
Consequently, he said that the state government was in the process of presenting a bill for a law to the state House of Assembly that will compel parents and guardians in the state to encourage their children or wards to speak their mother tongue.
He emphasized, “If you don’t know your mother tongue, then you will be compelled to learn it.
“Apart from that, we want to encourage tribal groups in the state to organize, periodically, cultural festivals where they are going to promote cultural norms and values of their respective tribal groups.”
