Chidoka counsels youths to embrace indigenous languages

A former minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, on Wednesday advised Nigerian youths to strive to understand and effectively communicate in their mother tongues.

Chidoka in a video he posted on his social media handle said poor knowledge of indigenous language among the youth affect their worldview and maintaining a balanced upbringing.

He described as unfortunate the attitude of most parents who don’t teach their children their indigenous languages because of the notion that it was not a global language.

The transport expert said language was the vehicle through which culture was taught and learned, noting that poor knowledge of it bred identity crisis.

He said language should be learned through acculturation and not as a conscious academic exercise which could deny the individual of the originality or essence.

“If you as an Igbo person and you don’t understand or speak the language, you are missing a lot because it gives you a whole worldview from a cultural perspective and also saves one from identity crisis.

“I have told people not to let their dialect hold them down in which ever way they can, let them speak their dialect and also connect with folklores and stories which usually come with loads of lesson,” he said.

Chidoka said adults who did not have the privilege of learning their dialect during upbringing could help themselves and learn the language through online material.

This would, he noted,would help them to understand the philosophy of the language, ways and norms of their people.